DFI Educational Trust Update New Scholarship Fund Honors Thomas Wysockey In June, the DFI Educational Trust e s t a b l i s h e d t h e Thomas Wysockey Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund, honoring Thomas J. Wysockey, chairman emeritus of Thatcher Foundations Inc. The fund was established with a generous donation of $50,000 received from Thatcher Foundations and is part of a pledge totaling $100,000. The Wysockey Fund will provide finan- Thomas Wysockey cial awards to deserving civil engineering students who are pursuing a career in the deep foundations industry. Students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, who are attending any accredited U.S. college or university, will be eligible to apply. Applicants with a military background will be given special consideration as long as they meet the other requirements of the scholarship. Sebastian Villa, an Sebastian Villa, Wysockey Scholar- ship recipient undergraduate civil engineering student at Georgia Institute of Technology and a former U.S. Marine, is the fund’s first recipi- ent of a $5,000 schol- arship. The award is being presented at the DFI 39th Annual Conference in Atlanta. Mike Wysockey, president and CEO of Thatcher Foundations is spearheading a fundraising drive over the next few months to obtain additional corporate and individual donations for the fund. The endowment goal is $250,000. 2014 At-Large Scholarships Awarded This summer, the Trust’s At-Large Scholarship program, now in its second year, awarded $10,000 in scholarships. Over 60 applications were received from students attending 40 different universities across the U.S. Five students each received a $2,000 scholarship. They are: Zachary Fallert, a senior at University of Missouri; Megan Hamilton, a senior at Virginia Tech; Jacob Sumearll, a senior at University of Wyoming; Megan Farnsworth, a junior at Villanova University; and Andrew Druckrey, a graduate student at the University of Tennessee. At-Large Scholarships may be used for tuition, fees, books and/or educational living expenses. Applicants must be enrolled full time in a U.S. college or university; be pursuing a graduate or undergraduate degree in an accredited civil, geotechnical engineering or related David Coleman, Chair [email protected] deep foundations curriculum; and have a minimum 3.0 GPA. “DFI recognizes that the future of our industry depends on our ability to encourage and engage promising young engineers to consider careers in the deep foundations construction field,” said David Coleman, chair, DFI Educational Trust. “We are proud to make funding available through the At-Large Scholarship program to provide financial support to students interested in pursuing a career in the industry.” New Trust Board Member Jacob Sumearll, University of Wyoming and Megan Farnsworth, Villanova DFI Trust Events October 23 Awards Reception/Dinner at DFI’s 39th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA DFI Educational Trust CA Golf Outing at Castlewood Country Club, Pleasanton, CA October 27 Annual Gala Fundraising Dinner to benefit DFI Educational Trust Stanley Merjan CCNY Civil Engineering Scholarship, Liberty House, Jersey City, NJ November 6 Check for details at www.dfitrust.org DEEP FOUNDATIONS • SEPT/OCT 2014 • 59 Zoran “Zac” Curan- ovic, P.E., was elected to a two-year term on the DFI Educational Tr u s t B o a r d o f Trustees. Curanovic works for Underpin- ning and Foundation Skanska, where he is involved in many aspects of deep foundation design and construction. Prior to joining Skanska, Cur anovi c wa s employed wi th Moretrench America Corporation. His combined experience includes drilled shafts, secant pile walls, minipiles, tieback and tiedown anchors, driven piles, support of excavation systems and dewatering projects. Curanovic moved to the U.S. from Zoran “Zac” Curanovic, new board member Montenegro in 2001. He earned an associate degree in Engineering Science at Westchester Community College, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering at Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. A registered professional engineer in New York, he is the ACE Mentorship Program team leader at Manhattan College/Westchester.
