Gift-Matching Challenge Speeds Growth of New IME Endowment

Story Posted: Fri, Jun 26, 2009

College of Engineering alumnus Jay Wilt (IE ’75) attributes both his career success and his strong work ethic and sense of social responsibility to the solid preparation he received at Oregon State University. Now, he is working to ensure that future generations of OSU IME students will have the same experience.

Jay Wilt

“Success in building, fixing, and changing manufacturing and organizational systems and processes requires the ability to engage and work with people and teams that cross functional and organizational boundaries, “ observed Wilt. “As an industrial engineering major, I graduated from OSU armed with the necessary problem solving and project management skills, brimming with confidence that by working with others I could change the world for the better, and believing I had a duty to do so.”

Wilt, who worked at Procter & Gamble and Tektronix before co-founding the Laughlin-Wilt Group (an electronic manufacturing services business) in 1988, foresees an ongoing need for talented, forward-looking IME professionals in the global workforce. “The pressing opportunities and problems of today’s world in all its complexity urgently require the leadership and skills of industrial engineers now more than ever,” he said.

A 1998 Oregon Stater honoree and long-standing member of the MIME Industry Affiliates Board, Wilt remains committed to fostering IME program development at OSU and helping ensure that the best and brightest of tomorrow’s IME professionals are graduates of this institution.

To this end, he provided the lead gift for the new Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Endowment, established in December 2007.

The principal of this endowment will be invested in perpetuity, with 4.5% of the fund available each year to support OSU’s industrial and manufacturing engineering programs.

Tom West and his wife Carmen.

Thanks to a generous challenge from two other IME program supporters, donors to the new endowment have the opportunity to double their support for these engineering programs. Through the end of 2010, gifts to the IME endowment will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Tom (PhD IE ‘76) and Carmen West, who will contribute up to a total of $25,000.

West served as department head of IME, an associate dean in the College of Engineering, and interim dean of engineering before his retirement and in 2004 was inducted into the Oregon Staters Hall of Fame. The Wests had previously established an endowment that provides annual scholarships for students in the industrial and manufacturing engineering professional programs and are very supportive of Wilt’s initiative.

“One of my most rewarding career experiences was the opportunity to serve on the faculty and work with both undergraduate and graduate students at Oregon State University during the development and growth of the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering programs,” said West. “Carmen and I remain loyal members of the extended IME family and active supporters of these programs, and I am pleased to help grow the endowment for the future.”

“We’re fortunate to have alumni and faculty who remain engaged with OSU,” commented 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.”

For more about the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, click here.

To make a gift to the OSU Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering endowment, please contact Marlys Amundson at marlys.amundson@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-0055.