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Harold L. Michael Memorial Transportation Scholarship

If you are a Purdue graduate or have another connection with Purdue University, you may be interested in contributing to a scholarship that honors Harold Michael.

Approximately 10 years ago, Harold L. Michael passed away at the age of 79. By the time of his death in August 1999, his accomplishments in engineering, particularly in the field of transportation, were outstanding. Harold Michael had served in many important leadership roles in numerous engineering and community service organizations throughout his adult life. In addition, he had received some of the most prestigious awards given by ASCE, ITE, and TRB. First and foremost, Harold Michael was an educator. He spent his entire 40 year professional career as an educator at Purdue University. At the time of his retirement in 1991, he was the Head of the School of Civil Engineering. During those 40 years and the years after his retirement, he touched the lives of many individuals in transportation engineering and transportation planning.

An endowed scholarship fund was established at Purdue University in January 2007 to honor Harold Michael. The income generated by the endowment fund will provide scholarships to deserving graduate and senior undergraduate students in the School of Civil Engineering who have an area of concentration in surface transportation engineering or surface transportation planning. The scholarships will be awarded based on a combination of financial need and academic merit. However, there are requirements that must be fulfilled before any scholarships can be awarded. A minimum of $20,000.00 must be in the fund no later than January 23, 2012. If the minimum funding level is not reached, the funds collected will be transferred to another scholarship with similar goals/eligibility criteria or will be distributed through a small number of scholarships and the scholarship will cease to exist.

We are requesting that former students, associates, and friends of Harold Michael make contributions to the endowment fund for this scholarship. Procedures established by Purdue University will be followed to ensure that the donations are forwarded to this endowment fund.

To use the Purdue University online donation procedure, please enter the website at www.purdue.edu/udo/giving/give.shtml . At the beginning of the procedure, in the section entitled How to Make a Gift to Purdue University, select Make a One-Time Gift. On the next screen, proceed to Online and click Make a Gift Online. There is a detailed gift information section on the next screen. In the field labeled Make a New Gift, use the drop-down menu and proceed to College of Engineering and then select School of Civil Engineering. Next, on the line labeled Special Instructions insert Harold L. Michael Memorial Transportation Scholarship. The remainder of the procedure is for standard online credit card payment. Please check to determine if your employer has a matching gift commitment with Purdue University.

To use a check, make the check payable to the Purdue Foundation and write Harold L. Michael Memorial Transportation Scholarship on the For/Memo line in the lower left corner. Mail the check to:

Purdue Foundation
403 West Wood Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2007

There is a Purdue University form (Gift Transmittal Form) on the website that one can use when mailing a check, but it is not required. However, it may make a difference if your employer has a matching gift commitment with Purdue University. If you do use the form, there is a section labeled Designation. Please use one of the two lines labeled Other (specify) to write Harold L. Michael Memorial Transportation Scholarship.

It is hoped that there will be sufficient funds by January 23, 2012 in order to permanently establish this worthy scholarship in Harold Michael’s name. As previously stated, if the minimum endowment amount of $20,000.00 is not reached by that date, the collected funds will be transferred to an existing endowed scholarship or will be awarded as scholarships. Regardless, this scholarship will cease to exist.

Harold Michael was a “team player” throughout his life. With your help, a team of former students, associates, and friends can make this worthy scholarship a reality. Please consider making a donation of any amount so that this scholarship can be permanently established in the name of this outstanding individual.