Raymond A. Pittman, ’42E Scholarship

Raymond A. Pittman (BSE ME ’42, BSE AA ’42) was recognized as a talented engineer who helped develop safety standards for motor vehicles, laboring for 33 years to help Ford Motor Company protect its drivers. He retired in 1975, knowing that his success was, in great part, a product of his education.

Knowing how he loved that Michigan Engineering education, his son, Raymond B. Pittman (BSE ME ’67, MSE ’68), and grandson, Raymond J. Pittman (BSE CompE ’91), established the Raymond A. Pittman, ’42E Scholarship Fund as a memorial. The scholarship provides need-based support to undergraduate students, with preference given to State of Michigan residents. Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering David Munson has called the Fund “one of the College’s most important resources.”

In the photo above right, Raymond B. and Raymond J. Pittman flank Anthony Tricozzi, the 2008 recipient of the Raymond A. Pittman, ’42E Scholarship.

Joseph M. Geisinger Scholarship

The late Joseph M. Geisinger (BSE ME ’36) and Viola, his wife, created a trust fund to support students pursuing Michigan Engineering degrees. Their scholarship gift of $7 million, beginning with a gift in 2005 – the largest scholarship gift ever made to Michigan Engineering and third largest in the University’s history – funds the recruitment of students from the south and southwestern portions of the country, helping the College cultivate a diverse student body. The scholarship meets the needs of a large group of talented students during a time of budget challenges at the state and federal levels.

Jessica Wang, a biomedical engineering undergraduate student, is one of 21 students who currently hold a Joseph M. Geisinger Scholarship. Wang received the scholarship from Dean Dave Munson (left) at the 2009 Student Leaders and Honors Brunch.

Sanders M. Clark Endowed Scholarship

Sanders M. Clark, who graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Michigan Technical Institute in 1947, believed that “education was the great equalizer.” So it was a fitting tribute when his daughter, Regina McNeil (AB ED ’73), and Ronald McNeil, her husband, created the Sanders M. Clark Endowed Scholarship Fund through the Ronald D. and Regina C. McNeil Foundation. It provides merit-based scholarships to undergraduate students enrolled full-time in the College of Engineering.

The current Sanders M. Clark Scholar is Kwame Searcy (left), a first-year undergraduate who was born in Ann Arbor and raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He plans to pursue civil engineering and said that he “selected Michigan Engineering because minority support programs are awesome.”

Irving J. Stewart Scholarship

Marilyn Stewart, the wife of Irving J. Stewart (BSE IOE ’54, MSE ’55), honored her husband with the establishment of the Irving J. Stewart Fund, which supports a need-based scholarship for undergraduate students. Stewart retired in 1987 after 22 years with Cincinnati Milacron, where he developed and patented a unique guard system for high-speed grinders.

Smita Purekar, a first-year undergraduate, is the current Irving J. Stewart Scholar (left). She chose Michigan Engineering because it could give her “the means to do anything I wanted with both my undergraduate experience and then my career.”