When $100 can become $150, OHIO alumni and friends bring student support to the table.
Launched in 2013, The OHIO Match™ Undergraduate Scholarship Matching Program has encouraged more than 12,560 donors to commit $8.2 million to scholarship endowments. The program matches eligible scholarship gifts 50 cents on the dollar.
The results: $12 million in scholarship support and 144 new endowed scholarships.
Emmett Boyle (MSISE ’70) and his wife Debra Boger have given $612,500 to create the Robert Emmett Boyle and Debra Boger Russ Vision Scholarship Fund in the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology. Qualifying for The OHIO Match™ and the Russ College’s “Match the Match” program, the new endowment totals $1.225 million.
“Being involved in scholarships has been one of the most rewarding things we’ve ever done,” said Boyle, a mechanical engineer who serves on the Russ College’s Board of Visitors. “I am an engineer and believe strongly in the profession and the things that it can do for the world. (Scholarships) really benefit people. It’s that simple.”
Boyle sees Ohio University “and its sub-machine of the Russ College, producing products—some outstanding products—that are needed today and in the future. The only way to keep this going is to support it.”
Russ College Dean Dennis Irwin agrees. “Our goal is to reach 50 OHIO Match™ scholarships annually (approximately $4,000 each) for the college,” he said. “They allow us to be very competitive recruiters in the state of Ohio; that’s especially important here because of the very large number of engineering programs in the state. These scholarships also free up funds we can use to support student activities that could not otherwise be supported while maintaining the makeup of our student body.” Activities like the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering’s project to produce cost-effective assistive technology to meet children’s needs.
“From the point of view of the donor,” Irwin added, “it is possible that—if an employer match is additionally available—a $25,000 contribution, payable over five years, would result in what is effectively a $75,000 scholarship endowment!”
