Two students a year will have an opportunity to receive engineering scholarships to UCCS, thanks to a grant made to honor a Colorado Springs-bred Naval veteran and engineer.
This $10,000 commitment by the Sachs Foundation of Colorado Springs establishes the Morris A. Esmiol Jr. Scholarship for Engineering, which may ultimately benefit as many as eight black/African-American students at a time as it is likely to be renewed annually.
“We are greatly appreciative of the Sachs Foundation for creating opportunities for engineering students at UCCS,” said R. “Dan” Dandapani, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “It can be a difference-maker for a new student who could not otherwise have afforded UCCS, or help a deserving upperclassman who has been struggling financially to stay in the program.”
Born and raised in Colorado Springs, Morris (“Morry”) Esmiol, Jr. developed a love for engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy at the beginning of World War II. His naval career spanned 29 years, during which he served in numerous theaters of combat and played an integral role in the theories, development, and delivery of nuclear weapons systems.
In 1985, 12 years after his retirement from the Navy, Esmiol moved back to Colorado Springs to run the Sachs Foundation (which his father assisted Henry Sachs in founding in 1932). Esmiol stewarded the foundation through a remarkable quarter-century of asset growth and community impact—not only enhancing the foundation’s original mission of providing scholarships to deserving black/African-American students, but also establishing a direct community assistance program for El Paso County black/African-American residents.
The new scholarship, modeled on a similar scholarship already available for UCCS nursing students, will be available starting in January 2014 to Colorado resident black/African-American engineering students at UCCS with demonstrated academic success and financial need. This will add to the more than 3,000 students the Sachs Foundation has helped to obtain a college education in its 82 years.
“By providing these named scholarships in engineering, the Sachs Foundation is confident that students will continue to benefit from the passion Mr. Esmiol has carried for so many years, and that his legacy of excellence in education will endure,” says Craig Ralston, president of the Sachs Foundation.
For more information about the Sachs Foundation, visit www.sachsfoundation.org
— Jeremy Simon, CU system
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