BRADFORD, PA – High
school students interested in working with computers now have another reason to
apply to the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Computer Information
Systems and Technology program: four new $5,000 freshman merit scholarships for
CIS&T majors.
Two of the $5,000
scholarships were endowed by Dr. Richard E. and Ruth McDowell of Bradford, and
two additional scholarships of equal size were matched by the
university.
“Good academic programs
have to have good students,” Richard McDowell, president emeritus of
Pitt-Bradford, said of his and his wife’s decision to make a gift of more than
$250,000 to endow the scholarships, which will be named in honor of Barbara and
Lester Rice and Ruth McDowell’s parents, Alice and Thomas Moriarty.
Students receiving
the scholarships (at least four will be awarded every year) will have to be
high performers indeed. Minimum requirements are a 3.25 cumulative high school
GPA in college-preparatory classes and SAT scores of 600 in math and 500 in
verbal.
Established five
years ago, the CIS&T program has grown quickly to 50 majors at the campus
of 1,500 students and has an excellent graduate job-placement track record with
starting salaries generally ranging from $45,000 to $55,000. Graduates also
have excellent long-term career growth prospects, said Don Lewicki, program
director.
The U.S. Department
of Labor predicts a growth rate of more than 25 percent for computer systems
analysts through 2022. Those jobs, department statistics say, had a median pay
of $79,680 in 2012 and require a bachelor’s level education.
“We’re profoundly
grateful to Dick and Ruth for their longstanding commitment to and support of
our campus and its academic programs,” said Dr. Livingston Alexander, president
of Pitt-Bradford. “We’re especially pleased that they are keenly focused on
scholarships, a high priority on the campus.”
McDowell, who taught
biology before becoming a college administrator, is impressed by the
possibilities for students in the Pitt-Bradford program. Systems analysts
design and maintain an organization’s information systems.
“My entire adult
life, I’ve been reading Science magazine, and there’s always been a lot of
concern about fewer people entering the sciences,” he said. McDowell said he
wanted to make a gift to encourage more students to enter the realm of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics.
His eye fell on the
fast-growing CIS&T program, led by Lewicki. “The faculty and staff in the
program are top-rate people,” McDowell said. “Why not build on what we have?”
By naming the
scholarships in honor of the Rices and the Moriartys, the scholarship builds on
a history of science-minded individuals.
Rice is the chairman
emeritus and former CEO of KOA Speer Electronics, the successor to AircoSpeer,
and a supporter of the university.
Rice began his career
in electronics with the U.S. Navy, where he attended Electronics Technical
School. Later, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics
engineering from the University of Michigan.
Rice’s training is in
keeping with the skills provided by Pitt-Bradford’s CIS&T program, which
provides a broad information technology background. Students learn about
programming applications, network development, systems design and analysis, Web
technologies, multimedia applications, database development, and systems
administration.
Thomas Moriarty was
an electrician who worked for many years at AircoSpeer maintaining its
electrical systems.
Students interested
in the CIS&T program should contact Alexander Nazemetz, director of admissions,
at nazemetz@pitt.edu or 814-362-7555.
