UW Helps Bring Social Work Training To Cambodia

Growing up, UW junior Maggie Ramirez had no particular interest in math and science and was not sure college was in her future. That changed when she attended a UW workshop sponsored by the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers. An industrial engineering major, Ramirez works for Boeing during summer breaks and hopes to get a full-time job with the company after she graduates. “I am so thankful I found the engineering profession and that the University saw my potential and encouraged me with scholarships. I want to thank the donors who made this possible,” says Ramirez, a recipient of the UW’s highly competitive Emerging Leaders in Engineering Scholarship, supported by Frank Robinson (’57), among others.

Robinson’s lifelong fascination with aviation was intensified during his years at the UW studying mechanical engineering. After graduation, he worked for several helicopter manufacturers before striking out on his own to start Robinson Helicopter Co., the largest manufacturer of nonmilitary helicopters. Now Robinson is supporting his passion for engineering and, in turn, the aviation industry, by giving generously to UW engineering scholarships.

Like Robinson, Tom and Sue Ellison are giving to the issues that matter most to them. The couple recently made a remarkable investment in the stem cell core, a key part of the UW’s Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. Carol Ware, a research associate professor in comparative medicine and the stem cell core director, credits the Ellisons with helping to advance critical science.

“This generous gift from the Ellisons allows us to buy important equipment, and it supports the faculty and staff necessary to make scientific breakthroughs,” Ware says. Institute researchers are making progress in repairing heart tissue, among other projects. “This research will lead to the overall improvement of human health — that’s the bottom line,” Ware says.

It’s a bottom line the Ellisons believe in. “We have family and friends with diseases that ultimately may be made irrelevant by this research,” Tom Ellison says. “The institute deserves to be one of the top centers in the United States and the world. We hope our gift will help in getting it established and on the map.”