| by
Marjorie Smith |
| Mark
A. Robinson, '86 I&ME, had three passions in his all-too-short
life: his family, his career as an engineer and his native
Montana. |
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Mark
Robinson
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| He
believed that the route to solving the problems
of Montana's faltering economy lay in manufacturing
and that if we support manufacturing in the
state, job opportunities and salaries for
Montanans will improve. |
| His
parents, David W., '50 ME, and Jean
K. Robinson of Lakeside, agree that it is
ironic that Mark's devotion to his chosen
field of engineering took him outside the
state to advance his career. When Mark died
suddenly in 1997, just before his 35th birthday,
he was working for a company in Spokane. |
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| David
Robinson says, "Mark probably chose the worst possible
field of engineering to stay in Montana because of the
absence of manufacturing, but it was where his interests
lay." |
| To
memorialize their son and work toward his
goal of improving Montana's job opportunities,
David and Jean created the Mark A. Robinson
Memorial Engineering Scholarship shortly after
his death. The endowed fund the Robinsons
established through a charitable remainder
unitrust and several years of generous donations
supports renewable scholarships that provide
$5,000 annually to students who are graduates
of Montana high schools and have attained
at least sophomore standing in the College
of Engineering and a minimum 3.0 grade point
average. |
|
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|
David
and Jean Robinson with MSU President Geoff
Gamble (right).
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| At
least one scholarship each year is reserved for an I&ME
major. Thirteen scholarships have been awarded since 1998.
As funds permit, additional scholarships are awarded to
students in other engineering disciplines. |
|
Matthew L. Dorrington, '02 ChemE, received one
of the Mark Robinson scholarships for his senior year.
"Receiving the scholarship not only aided tremendously
in financing my education," he says, "but also motivated
and boosted my will to succeed. I felt that I wanted to
make Mr. and Mrs. Robinson proud and continue the same
drive and motivation for life ... the same way Mark would
have done." |
| Now
in his first year as an engineer for ChevronTexaco in
New Orleans, Dorrington says, "I am not burdened with
school loans. I will always be thankful for the generosity
of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and how they helped me to get
a jump on life after college." |
| "When
we first set up the scholarship five years ago, we all
had great hope that things were going to change as far
as manufacturing goes in Montana," says Jean Robinson.
"One of our goals is certainly for Montanans to have more
job opportunities in Montana." |
|
Mark Robinson was survived by his wife, Sabrina "Sam"
(Napper) Robinson, '84 I&ME, and their three children,
as well as by his parents and two sisters. The Robinson
clan's insistence that Mark's ambitions for his career
and his home state live on after him will have a strong
impact on the lives of selected MSU students in all the
years to come. |
| As
Matt Dorrington says, "It is comforting to know that people
like Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are out there and I envy their
perseverance, wisdom and generosity." |
