$1 Million Gift to Establish Four Scholarships at MSU Pat and Bob Sletten Photo Courtesy Bob Sletten by Rick Jackson, MSU Foundation Bob Sletten, '56 Arch.Engr., '95 HonDoc, and his wife,Pat, of Great Falls have donated $1 million to the Putting Students First Scholarship Campaign. The gift of common stock provides endowed scholarships in four areas: $300,000 to support the Sletten Family University Scholar fund, an undesignated, renewable scholarship aimed at recruitment and retention $200,000 to support the Sletten-Thomas Family Electrical Engineering Scholarship (Pat's father, Cecil, was a 1928 electrical engineering graduate of Montana State.) $300,000 to support the Sletten Family Civil Engineering/Construction Engineering Technology Scholarship $200,000 to support the Sletten Family Athletic Scholarship The first Sletten scholarships will be available for the 2005-2006 academic year. Bob Sletten is the chairman of the board and former chief executive officer of Sletten Construction Co. of Great Falls. He serves on the MSU Foundation's board of directors and has served on the College of Engineering Advisory Committee. "Bob and Pat Sletten have always been very strong supporters of Montana State University," said Dave Gibson, president and executive director of the MSU Foundation. We are truly grateful to be beneficiaries of their generosity." Gibson said the gift goes toward the Foundation's "Putting Students First" Scholarship Campaign, aimed at raising $18 million for students attending MSU. So far, more than $16.5 million has been raised. "Pat and I are very happy to be able to support this great endeavor at MSU. The University has been very good to us and our family, and without the outstanding education we have received at MSU, the opportunities that we have had would not have been possible. On a recent trip we came across a quotation by the late Frank Phillips that reflects our feeling about our gift: 'Those ofus who have been fortunate have a debt to society which, I believe, can best be paid by training and educating the youth of the nation.'" College of Engineering Dean Robert Marley echoed Gibson's gratitude. "We are thrilled to have Bob and Pat Sletten support MSU and the College of Engineering in this way. In the construction industry, the Sletten name is synonymous with many outstanding and highly visible projects throughout the West. And, we are honored to have a new electrical engineering scholarship in memory of Pat's father, Cecil Thomas, who had a long and distinguished career with the Montana Power Company." Established in 1928, Sletten Construction has offices in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Boise in addition to Great Falls. The company's revenue consistently places Sletten among the nation's top 400 contractors, according to Engineering News-Record. For more information about the Montana State University Foundation, visit the MSU Foundation web site.