New Boeing Fellowship in A&A
ANNOUNCEMENT: February 17, 2010
The Boeing Company Honors Its Founder's Vision with a New Fellowship in University of Washington's Aeronautics & Astronautics
Just a year after William E. Boeing founded a small airplane company in 1916, he approached the University of Washington (UW) with an offer. He would provide funding to build the region's first wind tunnel if the University would establish a program in the fledgling field of aeronautics. Boeing needed a skilled workforce, and the University recognized the opportunities in an emerging engineering discipline.
Over nearly a century, tens of thousands of UW Engineering graduates have worked at The Boeing Company, some 4,000 engineering alumni are employed there today, and UW Aeronautics & Astronautics continues to train exceptional students who become innovators and leaders in the aerospace industry.
The Boeing Company is honoring its founder's vision of close academic and industrial collaboration by establishing the William E. Boeing Fellowship in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington. Boeing has committed $500,000 to support graduate student education and research by providing fellowships based on both academic merit and financial need. The University is providing a fifty percent match for Boeing's gift through the Students First initiative, which offers admission to qualified students who could not attend the UW without financial support. The fellowship was announced on Tuesday, February 16 on the UW campus.
"William E. Boeing understood the value of a collaborative relationship with education and research institutions, and recognized that if we work together, our achievements can be much greater than if we work separately," said Todd Zarfos, vice president, 747 Program Engineering. "In naming this fellowship for him we are honoring his vision and leadership and continuing his legacy of excellence and diversity of thought."
"We deeply appreciate Boeing's generosity in endowing the William E. Boeing Fellowship in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics. This fellowship will enable us to recruit the very best graduate students, significantly increasing the impact, success, and visibility of our entire program. It is an investment not only in the future of our students but also in the future of the aerospace industry," said department chair Adam Bruckner.
Boeing's collaboration with UW Engineering extends across the college. Since 1986 Boeing has endowed eight faculty positions, which enable outstanding faculty to pursue leading-edge research and devote additional time to training and mentoring the next generation of engineers. The company has funded more than $30 million in research projects since 1990, including work at the Center of Excellence on Advanced Materials in Transport Aircraft Structures, a Federal Aviation Administration Center established in UW Engineering in 2004. Through student scholarships, project support, and guidance, Boeing also helps UW Engineering attract a diverse student body. In addition, Boeing is the lead corporate partner for CELT (the UW Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching), an initiative to update engineering education to remain globally competitive.
William E. Boeing served as president and chairman of the board of The Boeing Company until his retirement in 1934. In that year he was honored with the Daniel Guggenheim Medal for successful pioneering and achievement in aircraft design and manufacturing. In 1966, Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, memorialized him "for outstanding contributions to aviation by his successful organization of a network of airline routes and the production of vitally important military and commercial aircraft."
"This fellowship will enable us to recruit the very best graduate students, significantly increasing the impact, success, and visibility of our entire program."
- Adam Bruckner, A&A department chair