College of Optical Sciences Donors Establish 13 Friends of Tucson Optics Scholarship Endowments

Feb. 5, 2014

TUCSON, Ariz. — The College of Optical Sciences has announced the establishment of 13 new FoTO (Friends of Tucson Optics) endowed graduate student scholarships. These FoTO scholarships are newly established or existing student scholarship endowments for graduate students that have received commitments to reach a minimum $500,000 balance and have benefited from the recently announced four-to-one matching gift offer made by James C. Wyant.

The payout of such an endowment provides in perpetuity graduate student stipend support at about $20,000 annually, and the scholarships will also include graduate student tuition and fees.

"It is exciting to see these remarkably generous individuals step forward and make such a bold and profound commitment to the future of the college, and to the future of our field," said Thomas L. Koch, dean of the College of Optical Sciences. "We are pleased to honor them as the initial members of our new Principals of Opticks scholarship endowment society."

The Principals of Opticks scholarship endowment society is a donor recognition group for people who have committed to sponsoring or contributing to a scholarship endowment at the college with a gift level of $75,000 or more.

The 13 new FoTO scholarships are:

  • Professor Michel Cagnet Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • Robert M. Edmund Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • Joseph W. Goodman Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • John B. Hayes and Jane C. Quale Graduate Student Scholarships in Optical Sciences 1 & 2
  • Lawrence A. Johnson Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • Kenneth E. and Michele L. Moore Graduate Student Scholarships in Optical Sciences 1 & 2
  • Jacobus M. and Michelle L. Oschmann Scholarship in Business Management and Optical Sciences
  • Roland V. Shack Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • Richard L. Shoemaker Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • John Tipton Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences
  • William L. Wolfe Family Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences

The college has three existing FoTO scholarships, which are:

  • Willis Lamb Jr. Graduate Student Scholarships in Optical Sciences 1 & 2
  • Louise Wyant Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences

The college recently established a Graduate Student FoTO Scholarship in Optical Sciences general fund with a lead gift of $25,000 from a college alumnus, Elroy Miller, M.S. 1978. Donations of any amount to this general fund will also be matched four-to-one from Wyant's offer.    

Newly inducted members of the Principals of Opticks scholarship endowment society for the College of Optical Sciences are:

  • John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong
  • Robert and Gwynne Edmund 
  • Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman
  • John Hayes and Jane Quale
  • Lawrence and Nancy Johnson
  • Willis Lamb Jr.
  • Masud and Annegret Mansuripur
  • Sean J. McCafferty
  • Kenneth and Michele Moore
  • Jacobus and Michelle Oschmann
  • Anne Palmer and Bruce Harker
  • Kevin and Jannick Rolland-Thompson
  • Murray and Kamela Sargent
  • Richard Shoemaker
  • William and Mary Lou Wolfe
  • James C. Wyant

If you would like to make a gift to the FoTO (Friends of Tucson Optics) endowment, you may do so online or by mail. Your gift will be matched four-to-one by James C. Wyant's historic gift.

For more information about giving to the College of Optical Sciences, the Principals of Opticks and the FoTO (Friends of Tucson Optics) scholarships, please contact Kaye Rowan at 520-626-8754 or rowan@optics.arizona.edu.

About the University of Arizona James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences: 

The University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, founded as the Optical Sciences Center, has been shaping the future since 1964 by offering high-quality instruction, cutting-edge research and a solid commitment to the development of the optics industry. OSC remains dedicated to providing the state of Arizona and the nation with an internationally pre-eminent program in all aspects of the study of light. For more information, please visit www.optics.arizona.edu or call 520-621-6997.

About the University of Arizona Foundation:
The University of Arizona Foundation is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing the University of Arizona. Managing an existing asset base of more than $600 million, the UA Foundation has helped generate more than $2 billion in private funding to support the University. Learn more about the Foundation at uafoundation.org.

Contact: 

Kaye Rowan
520-626-8754
rowan@optics.arizona.edu