Students win with
              Martin scholarship endowment

Jim and Beulah Martin, pictured at right above, decided years ago that they wanted to further agricultural engineering and technology opportunities for future students at the University of Idaho. That is why, in 1993, they established a scholarship endowment in their name.

Jim Martin had served as department head of the then Agricultural Engineering Department from 1946 to 1966 and continued on as a professor until 1973. Concurrently, Beulah was an instructor in the Math Department. When the Martins first came to the UI, they took on many of the returning military students and their spouses as a part of their own family.

At the time of the scholarship endowment, the Martins also established a living trust, with the balance of their estate going to the scholarship and endowment upon their deaths.

Jim passed away in 1998 and Beulah in November 2004. The remaining bulk of their estate, almost $700,000, came to the scholarship endowment and an equipment endowment in 2005.

Laboratory named for James Martin
Because of his many years of service, and with the establishment of the endowment and living trust, the laboratory building in biological and agricultural engineering was re-named, the James Martin Lab (JML).

These additional funds added to other existing scholarship endowments, bring the total to $940,074 in endowment dollars for current and future BAE students. The impact of this generous gift will be fully realized in the 2007-08 school year.
“What this means to the department is that we can more competitively recruit the top graduating seniors in Idaho and the region, and then be able to offer continuing scholarships to retain these students,” said Jon Van Gerpen, department head for biological and agricultural engineering.

“I would like to see the departmental endowment base reach $1 million, boosted by support of our alumni, friends, and industry,” he continued. “This would further enhance our ability to educate individuals in the agricultural, biological, and related industries needing engineering and technology-based employees. This could be translated into the establishment of new endowments, or by individuals adding to any of our current endowments.”

Find the list of current scholarship endowments at www.agls.uidaho.edu/bae/.
For more information about donations, scholarships, or endowments, contact CALS Development Officer Mary Hasenoehrl at mhaseno@uidaho.edu, or call 208.885.6681.