2004 Auto Call Article about the FAR Scholarship Program

The Foundation For Amateur Radio Scholarship Program

By Diane Zimmerman AA3OF

Introduction

Every June, five people get together in a conference room at the Historical Electronics Museum to award over $70,000 in amateur radio scholarships. These people are the Foundation For Amateur Radio Scholarship Committee, the people who administer amateur radio related scholarships for the Foundation For Amateur Radio (FAR) Scholarship program.

The FAR Scholarship program dates from 1961. Over the 40+year period since then, FAR has made awards of almost $1 million. From that first scholarship, the program has grown to 55 scholarships administered during 2004, and provides one of the major purposes for the Foundation. Prior to that first scholarship, the Foundation's main purpose was to provide the resources to run an Amateur Radio convention in the Washington, D. C. area.

History of the Scholarship Program

The first scholarship administered by the committee was started in memory of John Gore, who had been president of the Foundation. He was an engineer for the Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding Company in Baltimore. Mr. Gore had been the President of the Foundation and died while in office. The Foundation wanted to remember him and so established that scholarship in his Memory. The scholarship existed in this format through 1996.

The Redington Scholarship, was established when Edward Redington, who was one of the officers and leaders of the Foundation, passed away. Starting in 1980, the Foundation offered a scholarship in memory of Commander Redington. The Foundation put up $10,000 for that scholarship. The name of that scholarship was changed from the Redington Scholarship to the Redington-Grenfell scholarship when William Grenfell W4GF added a grant of money in 1985. Another early Foundation scholarship was the Edwin Van Deusen Memorial scholarship, which existed from 1973 through 1996.

These early scholarships provided the seed money for the Foundations' Silent Key Memorial scholarships, which were created in 1997 when the early scholarships were combined. As of 2004, there is enough money in the FAR Silent Key scholarship fund to provide three annual scholarships of $1000 for the foreseeable future.

The Chichester Memorial scholarship was first given in 1973. The Radio Club of America scholarships began in 1977. The first QCWA scholarship was made in 1978.

The Foundation's scholarship program pre-dates the ARRL program and is completely independent from ARRL. At times, some students have won both ARRL and FAR scholarships. Sometimes, worthy applicants who cannot be reached for a FAR scholarship are able to win ARRL scholarships.

FAR has given as many as 70 scholarships in a year.

About The Scholarships

The donors set the requirements for the scholarships. Some scholarships have geographic requirements, such as for residence in a particular state or area. Others require the applicant to pursue a specific course of study, or limit applicants to those who have operating privileges in the HF bands. Some scholarships are open to all who take classes at an accredited junior college, college, or University, while others are limited to those pursuing an undergraduate 4-year degree. The QCWA scholarships require a signature of recommendation by a QCWA member. The one factor that all FAR scholarships have in common is that they are limited to people who are licensed amateur radio operators.

Some of the Scholarships are endowed; the sponsors fund others annually. One benefit to an organization that sponsors a scholarship is to help justify the organization's 501(C)(3) status.

The YLRL scholarships became a part of the system in 1978. In the early days, female applicants were so few that the Committee was lucky to get 2 or 3 applicants who were YLs. Preference for the YLRL scholarships is given to female applicants, and the Committee has always been fortunate enough to have a female winner. The earliest YLRL scholarship started out as a $300 award. Back in the 70s, that sum might fund a semester's tuition in a public college. At the present time, YLRL offers two memorial scholarships, at $1500 each, in memory of two of their past Presidents. One scholarship is in memory the founder, Ethel Smith, K4LMB; the other is in memory of Mary Lou Brown, NM7N.

The Foundation administers seven endowed scholarships. The Chichester scholarship is is funded now by a mutual fund that the Chichester family transferred to the Foundation. Rose Ellen Bills, a former YLRL President, left money in her will to endow a scholarship. The three FAR Silent Key scholarships are funded by money in the Bank. The True scholarship is funded by a gift made by Mrs. Shirley True Banning in memory of her late husband, Robert True W3QD. The Anderson scholarship is funded by a gift made by Ralph Anderson in honor of his father.

Two of the endowed scholarships, the Anderson and the True, are funded by endowments that may not yield sufficient funds is today's low interest market to support an annual grant. In future years, the Foundation may make these awards in alternate years in order to preserve the capital and to make an award at the $1,000 level. The Nanticoke club scholarship was originally funded when one of their members gave the Foundation a grant; the current understanding is that the Foundation will give $1,000 scholarships annually until that fund is depleted.

The Foundation's newest scholarship is the Dwight Weller, KB3LA, Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Philip Karn, KA9Q. Mr. Karn is one of the early FAR Scholarship winners who won the Gore scholarship in 1975. In 2003, Mr. Karn made a contribution to the Foundation, which is invested in a certificate of deposit that generates interest income to support the award. This is the first time that the Foundation has had a previous scholarship winner give the Foundation a grant to help with the scholarship program.

Scholarships supported by the proceeds of Hamfests include the Columbia Amateur Radio Association, the Dade County Tropical Hamboree scholarships, the Maryland Mobileers, the Murgas ARC, the Frederick Amateur Radio Club, the West Allis Radio Club, the South Milwaukee scholarship, and the Free State. As mentioned earlier, sponsoring a scholarship can help a club support its 501(c)(3) status. The future of these scholarships depends on successful Hamfests.

Contributions from members support the scholarships offered by some organizations. QCWA is a large national organization that runs a scholarship program for the scholarships that are administered by the Foundation. 10-10 scholarships are funded by its members; they have a large membership and, particularly when the 10-meter band is active, they are able to solicit donations from the members. 10-10 currently offers five scholarships. YLRL, Philmont, Ozaukee and the Radio Club of America are also funded from the club members. The Kevin Barry Perdue Memorial Scholarship is sponsored by an annual gift from ARRL Vice President Cragie and her husband.

The Baltimore Amateur Radio Club (BARC), which sponsors 5 scholarships, manages their own scholarship funds, providing annual contributions to the Foundation for the BARC scholarships. The Northern California DX Foundation is a DX Foundation that sponsors DXpeditions and related activities; this club makes annual contributions for scholarships to be awarded to students who are active in Dxing.

To date, the Foundation has made 1039 awards valued at $934,050.00.

About The Winners

Most scholarship winners are young amateur radio operators attending college in the United States directly from High School. A few of the winners are students attending graduate school. Occasionally, a non-U.S. student attending a foreign school wins an award. Other winners are mature people attending school to prepare for a career change and/or a return to the job market.

Each year, the Foundation publishes an annual scholarship issue of Auto Call, in which photographs and biographies of the winners are featured.

As a rule, the Committee receives sufficient applications to award each of the scholarships.

About The Committee Members

The Committee consists of John Chitwood, K3RGB, Roland Anders, K3RA, John Pinkston, W3GJN, Hugh Turnbull, W3ABC, and Diane Zimmerman, AA3OF, who is the Chairman. 2004 was the final year for outgoing committee member Bob Nauman, WA3VUQ, who is retiring and leaving the area. John Pinkston joined the Committee in 2004.

Hugh Turnbull, W3ABC, has served on the Scholarship Committee since 1973 and became its chairman when Henry deCourt became a Silent Key in 1980. As an active Radio Amateur since 1932 who assisted for several years in the field recruitment effort of Lafayette College, Hugh has excellent qualifications for this position. In addition, he served for 20 years as an elected official of the American Radio Relay League. After more than two decades as Chairman, Hugh decided to pass the torch to Diane Zimmerman AA3OF.

John Chitwood has been a Committee member since 1974. John has a baccalaureate in engineering from the Drexel Institute of Technology and a master's degree in engineering at the George Washington University. John has served on the Committee each and every year through this year's awards, marking 31 years of continuous service. John is the Treasurer for the Foundation.

Rol Anders is the Chief Scientist for Space for Northrup Grumman Electronics Systems. Rol is an Active LARC VE, a Teacher of licensing classes who won the ARRL Teacher of the Year Award, a Contester who is active with PVRC and works as the 20meter operator for W3LPL, a Dxer, and has been the Chairman of the PVRC-CARA field day, W3AO, the number one ARRL-wide field day scorer for the past 6 years. Rol is a life member of the ARRL.

John Pinkston is a Professor in the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. John holds an Extra class license and is a CW operator who enjoys rag chewing and contesting for fun.

Diane Zimmerman, the Committee Chairman, joined the Scholarship Committee in 1999. She was first licensed as a Technician in 1995. She upgraded to extra in 1996, and promptly joined her club's VE Team. When the Chairman of the Laurel Amateur Radio Club (LARC) VEC retired in 2001, Diane took over the position, and has been Chairman of LARC VEC since then. Diane is also copy editor of Auto Call magazine.

The beauty of the Committee is the way that the qualifications of the Committee members support each other. Each committee member has a different area of expertise and it is the collection of the expertise that makes, in the long run, for the best decisions.

How the Committee Works

The scholarship cycle starts in the early fall, when the sponsors make their funding commitment for the upcoming year. The committee prepares a press release and award regulations document announcing the scholarships and inviting applications, and distributes them to interested parties.

The committee also updates the application periodically.

In response to inquiries from prospective applicants, the committee distributes applications. Traditionally, applications are due to the Committee by June 1. The Committee meets in June to review the applications and make the awards. Checks are sent to the winners over the summer.

This brief summary of the process skims over the large volume of work involved. Hundreds of news releases announcing the scholarships are mailed each fall to radio clubs. Custom printing (which is less expensive than photocopying) is ordered for the news releases, award regulations, scholarship applications, and of course letterhead and envelopes. Committee volunteers keep track of every application, reviewing the student's eligibility for the various awards and entering the application data onto a spreadsheet that is used in the award process. Every applicant receives a letter, either congratulating him on the award or offering condolences, a list of winners, and encouragement to apply for the following year. Every sponsor receives a personal letter describing the award winner. Meticulous records are kept for every step of the process, so that the scholarship committee's actions can cleanly pass an audit.

How to Sponsor A Scholarship

Individuals and organizations that wish to sponsor a scholarship should contact committee Chairman Diane Zimmerman to discuss your interest. Scholarships can be sponsored on a one-time basis, such as a special award in Memory of a Silent Key, or they can continue over time. As mentioned earlier, you can endow a scholarship, or fund one annually. As the donor, you will determine the amount of the scholarship and the qualifications for the winner.