Electrical engineering majors at Missouri University of Science and Technology are no strangers to striving for excellence, and thanks to a $1.3 million endowment from The Grainger Foundation, they have an even bigger reason to reach for the top.

Every spring, up to 12 Missouri S&T electrical engineering graduate and undergraduate students who plan to pursue careers in power engineering receive a $5,000 Grainger Power Engineering Award. The award is given to students upon graduation as a reward for academic excellence. Missouri S&T is recognized by The Grainger Foundation for its ability to attract top students and educate quality engineers and is one of only six universities in the nation chosen to receive funding from Grainger for such awards.

“The Grainger Foundation has a strong interest in electrical and power engineering, and we feel the faculty and students at Missouri S&T are very deserving of support,” says Gloria Sinclair, vice president and secretary for The Grainger Foundation. “The Grainger Power Engineering Awards program is a great investment.”

Missouri S&T sets the criteria and selects the graduates who will receive the award. The selection committee is organized by Dr. Mariesa Crow, F. Finley Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Missouri S&T and director of the university’s Energy Research and Development Center, and Dr. Keith Corzine, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Missouri S&T.

“We choose students who are serious about going into the power engineering field,” Crow says. “I’m very appreciative of the endowment from The Grainger Foundation. I think they are putting their money into building the technical workforce of tomorrow, and that is something for which we are very grateful.”

Missouri S&T Chancellor John F. Carney III also is thankful for The Grainger Foundation’s gift, which is the largest foundation gift in the university's history.

“As one of the nation’s leading technological research institutions, Missouri S&T is uniquely positioned to train the next generation of power engineers,” says Carney. “With instruction in power systems, motor drives and emerging energy sources, Missouri S&T is educating students to succeed in this critical discipline that is important to the university, the state of Missouri and the country.”

The Grainger Foundation of Lake Forest, Ill., was established in 1949 by Mr. and Mrs. William Wallace Grainger. The foundation has provided substantive support over the years to a broad range of organizations, including educational institutions, museums, healthcare and human services.