Honoring a 24-year tradition of awarding scholarships to students pursuing careers in the automotive industry, SEMA is awarding 93 students more than $130,000 in scholarships for the 2008–2009 academic year. The SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund began awarding scholarships to students pursuing careers in the automotive industry in 1984.
"SEMA is pleased to reward the hard work of these students and provide financial assistance to support their education and career goals,” said Paul “Scooter” Brothers, SEMA Scholarship Committee chairman. "We are consistently amazed by what our scholarship winners have accomplished in their academic careers. By investing in the education of these young people, we are investing in the future of our industry. Their academic achievements, as well as their leadership and volunteer activities, speak to their commitment to make a difference in the automotive industry.”
The program rewards the best and brightest students engaged in studies leading to a career in the automotive specialty-equipment market or a related field.
- Sophomores enrolled in two-year universities or colleges, and students in vocational or technical schools received $1,000.
- Graduates and undergraduates with at least a junior standing at a four-year school received $2,000–$4,000. To qualify for the scholarships, each student must have a minimum 2.5 grade-point average and be enrolled in an accredited university, college or proprietary program.
Although SEMA affiliation is not a requirement of the scholarships, added consideration is given to employees of, and relatives of employees at, SEMA-member companies. This year, seven scholarships were awarded to relatives and employees of SEMA-member companies, including:
- Daniel Kaskinen, Kaskinen Auto Sales
- James Kuklewski, ADAC Technologies (ADAC Plastics Inc.)
- Patrick Stasko, Design Engineering Inc.
- Joe Von Dohlen, Flowmaster Inc.
- Mitchell Langford, Stylin' Trucks (Division of Whitney Automotive Group)
- Austin Dodd, Midwest Wheel Companies
- Martin Balgach, National Business Media
As a benefit of SEMA membership, SEMA also presented the Loan Forgiveness Scholarship Award to qualified graduates with outstanding student loans, who have worked at a SEMA-member company for at least one year. This program was developed four years ago as further incentive for students to seek employment in the automotive specialty-equipment industry upon graduation. Seven employees of SEMA-member companies received $1,000 paid directly to their loan company to satisfy outstanding student loans.
The complete list of 2008 scholarship winners is listed below.
Students who are interested in applying for scholarships from SEMA’s Memorial Scholarship Fund during the 2009–2010 academic year should contact education@sema.org or visit www.sema.org/scholarship.
2008 SEMA Memorial Scholarship Winners, Four-Year, Two-Year
- Brandon Anderson, De Anza College, CA
- Casey Arthur, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Cliff Backler, Minnesota State University Mankato, MN
- Nathan Bailey, Montgomery County Community College, PA
- Rick Ballard, Weber State University, UT
- Raynor Bemis, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- James Benham. Jr., University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Heath Blake, Wilkes Community College, NC
- Nicholas Brownson, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Brittany Bruce, Northeast Mississippi Community College, MS
- Justin Campbell, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Mark Cleland, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Natasha Cramer, Dunwoody College of Technology, MN
- Rena Crockett, Community College Baltimore County, Catonsville, MD
- Adam Crook, Lake Superior College, MN
- Joseph Dahlhausen, Montana State University, Northern, MT
- Ryan Deschambault, Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley, ON Canada
- Eric Doke, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Grant Feichter, University of Cincinnati, OH
- Andrew Fida, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA
- Thomas Fischer, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL
- Derek Flint, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Joshua Frank, OR
- Jack Frederick, Pittsburgh State University, KS
- Eric Gardner, Weber State University, UT
- Andrew Garrett, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Matt Garwick, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Eric Geistkemper, Hawkeye Community College, IA
- Wei-Yun Gibson, Colorado State University - Pueblo, CO
- Roy Grauberger, Morgan Community High School through Brush High School, CO
- John Graves, SUNY Delhi, NY
- Jason Gray, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Daryl Green, Minnesota State University Mankado, MN
- Autumn Hawkins, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Sean Hayes, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, SD
- Bryan Haywood, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Justin Hockenberry, Colorado State University, Pueblo, CO
- Robert Jobe-Shields, Southwest Tennessee Community College, TN
- Jason Kawakami, Honolulu Community College, HI
- Karalei Kaye, College of Marin (IVC), CA
- Thomas Kuznicki, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Justin Lindke, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Mark Mallory, Southwestern Community College, NC
- Clayton Manning, Colorado State University, Pueblo, CO
- Mike Marr, Chemeketa Community College, OR
- Jason May, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Marcus McKean, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Mark McKinney, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- John McMillan, Belmont Abbey College, NC
- Diane Melville, Miami-Dade Honors College, FL
- Douglas Meyung, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Sean Miller, Northwood University, MI
- John Narcisco, Art Center College of Design, CA
- Blaine Olson, Lincoln College of Technology, CO
- Brent Opiela, Northwood University, MI
- Eric Oswald , Chemeketa Community College, OR
- Spencer Pearson, Minnesota State University Mankado, MN
- Ryan Roybal, CA
- Anthony Rusciano, College of Marin (IVC), CA
- Jay Schwanger, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Deepak Sequeira, Greenville Technical College, SC
- Matthew Shinabery, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Hiroko Shono, St. John's University, NY
- Charles Smith, Lakeshore Technical College, WI
- Jeremy Snavely, University of Northwestern Ohio, OH
- Andrew Spurr, Bluegrass Community & Technical College, KY
- Steven Steely, Delta College, MI
- Molly Stephens, Marian College, IN
- William Wegner, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN
- Dan Welle, Universal Technical Institute, CA
- Clayton Workman, Washington State Community College, OH
- Rumi Yamaguchi, Truman College, IL
- Seth Zombory, Ferris State University, MI
2008 Scholarship Winners - Graduates and SEMA Dependents or Employees
- Martin Balgach, Vermont College/Union Institute & University, VT
- Yakira Braden, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
- Austin Dodd, Grand View College, IA
- Daniel Kaskinen, Northwood University, MI
- James Kuklewski, Grand Valley State University, MI
- Mitchell Langford, Kent State University, OH
- Randolph Leach, Colorado State University, CO
- Weason Liang, Northwest University, Kellogg School of Management, IL
- Reza Saeidpourazar, Clemson University, SC
- Patrick Stasko, University of Cincinnati, OH
- Joe Von Dohlen, Pacific Union College, CA
- Sarah Warren, UCLA, School of Engineering, CA
2008 SEMA Loan Forgiveness Scholarship Winners
- Christopher Batsch, California State University, Long Beach, CA
- Jason Fashner, University of North Florida, FL
- Daniel Felsted, Mercy College, NY
- Michael Goodman, Universal Technical Institute, FL
- Patrick Hill, University of Central Florida, FL
- Michael Malloy, Drexel University, PA
- Melanie White, CSU Chico, CA