Scholarship Recipients and Donors Honored at 2017 Banquet

 2/9/2017

Donors, students and faculty gathered in the LSU Student Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom on Feb. 7 to honor the College of Engineering scholarship recipients.

In the fall of 2016, the College awarded almost $500,000 in scholarships to more than 360 current students, said Judy Wornat, Dean of the College of Engineering.

“You [scholarship recipients] have put in many hours of hard work and dedication in order to be here tonight,” Wornat said. “To our scholarship donors, without your generosity, none of this would be possible.”

The banquet gave students a chance to thank their donor in person.

Chemical engineering sophomore Joseph Balhoff received the BASF scholarship and wants to become an engineer for Disney in the future.

 “I will always be grateful for my donor,” Balhoff said. “This scholarship gives me a chance to do what I always wanted.” 

Caroline Linbaugh, chemical engineering senior who was awarded the BP and Lubrizol scholarship said she hopes to give back to the community as her donors did for her.

Del Dugas, Project Business Planner for ExonnMobil and LSU alumna, said this is a great opportunity to interact with the scholars and get to know them.

“It is an outstanding scholarship in the College of Engineering,” Dugas said. “There has also been a lot of goodness that comes out of it.”

Among those in attendance was Joe Wegmann, a friend of the Crawford Family, who started the William F. Crawford Scholarship in Environmental and Coastal Engineering.

The scholarship was named after William Crawford, an engineer at Georgia Pacific who passed away from a diving accident. It was Crawford’s love for everything outdoors and his love for engineering that started the scholarship, Wegmann said.

Friends and family of Crawford began the Louisiana State Freediving Championship, all proceeds from the event went toward the scholarship.

The scholarship has raised about $3,500 each year and was able to put eight people through school within the last seven years.

“One of the greatest feelings  about being a part of this great effort to honor an incredible man has come through meeting some of the recipients and hearing their stories on how this scholarship allowed them to not have to work during school,” Wegmann said.

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Raven Nichols, communications intern, LSU College of Engineering