Endowments: Gifts That Keep Giving

Ryan Qualizza

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology attracts exceptional faculty and remarkable students. Among this outstanding group, some of our faculty and students are honored to be recipients of gifts from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology alumni, faculty, staff, and friends.

Ryan Qualizza, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, is a recipient of the Everett E. Black Endowed Scholarship.

“The Everett E. Black Endowed Scholarship has aided me greatly over the years while attending Rose-Hulman,” Qualizza says, adding that scholarships like this one make it possible for many students to attend college. “Since I alone am responsible for paying back all of my student loans, this scholarship is deeply appreciated and has helped to make these loans more manageable after graduation.”

The Everett E. Black Endowed Scholarship is an endowed scholarship, created through a will bequest, for students whose parents are engineers, contractors, or construction workers. Black was a 1911 graduate of Rose Polytechnic Institute, earning a degree in electrical engineering. He received an honorary doctorate from Rose-Hulman in 1964.

Lauren Dobias

Another endowed scholarship created via a will bequest, the Carl and Mildred Carlson Endowed Scholarship, is helping Rose-Hulman student Lauren Dobias, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering. Carl Carlson graduated with honors from Rose-Hulman in 1947 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

“Financial aid was a huge factor to consider while selecting a college,” Dobias explains. “Rose-Hulman exceeded any other college I considered by far. Receiving the Carl and Mildred Carlson Endowed Scholarship was the exact edge I needed to make attending Rose-Hulman into a feasible option for me. Now that I’m here, I’m reminded every day that this is the perfect place for me.”

Dobias learned about Rose-Hulman through the summer program, Operation Catapult, and chose the college because of its family atmosphere, small class size, and personal connections with professors. She says her involvement in academics and campus life is something that she doesn’t believe she would receive at another college.

Qualizza echoes those sentiments. “I have been able to achieve things I never thought possible during my career at Rose-Hulman,” he says. “I have met unbelievable people and have been a part of one of the most amazing families I have ever known—the Rose-Hulman family. All of this was made possible with the help of the Everett E. Black Endowed Scholarship, and I am forever grateful.”

In addition to the students, Professor Mark A. Yoder is the first recipient of the Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The endowment was established by the Giacoletto family, via a charitable trust, in honor of Giacoletto, a 1938 electrical engineering graduate of Rose Polytechnic and an engineering pioneer.