Endowment grows with gift-matching challenge

Two generous alumni from the industrial and manufacturing engineering (IME) programs at OSU have teamed up on behalf of future generations of students — and they're inviting other alumni to join them, too.

Co-founder of the Laughlin-Wilt Group (an electronic manufacturing services business), Jay Wilt, '75, has provided the lead gift for the new Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Endowment, which will support these programs in perpetuity.

Donors to the new endowment have the opportunity to double their support. Through the end of 2010, gifts to the IME endowment will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Tom and Carmen West, who will contribute up to a total of $25,000. After earning his doctoral degree in industrial engineering at OSU in 1976, Tom West eventually served as IME department head and as an associate dean and interim dean in the College of Engineering.

"We're fortunate to have alumni and faculty who remain engaged with OSU," said Belinda Batten, head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering. "Through private support, we can ensure our students receive an enriched educational experience and our faculty have the resources to develop innovative curricula and pursue new areas of research. We are hopeful that Tom and Carmen's challenge will encourage other alumni and friends to make a critical investment in the future of industrial and manufacturing engineering."

Learn More

Read the full article about the IME endowment

To make a gift to the OSU Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering endowment, contact Marlys Amundson at 541-737-0055.