Future engineers planning for international careers as part of Missouri S&T’s global engineering program will soon have additional support to help offset the costs of studying and intern abroad.

The newly formed Kay and Willard Jenkins Endowed Scholarship for Global Engineering will assist students with travel and housing expenses during a full academic year study abroad in France or Spain that the program requires.

“I spent 35 years with John Deere, several of those in Heidelberg, Germany, and that has led me to believe that the future for so many of us is going to be globally based,” says Willard Jenkins. “Kay and I want to play our small role in developing that vision in S&T’s engineering students – that will be their world.”

Willard Jenkins earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1959 and worked for John Deere Co., retiring in 1993. He later served as an elected representative in the Iowa State Legislature for 10 years.

“My time with the legislature gave me another view of our global world,” says Jenkins. “I truly believe that if we ever achieve peace in our world, it will not be through the politicians or the churches. It will be through the business community and programs like this that bring people together from all over the world to achieve a common purpose.”

Missouri S&T’s new global engineering program gives students the opportunity to earn two degrees in five years while gaining foreign language skills, cross-cultural experiences and a study abroad experience. Engineers who speak more than one language can communicate with a larger range of peers and clients, navigate diverse work environments, and understand the cultural aspects of their projects.

During their first three years, S&T students will lay the groundwork for their degrees in engineering and multidisciplinary studies. Study abroad options are available during the fourth year, when students will study language in the fall semester and complete an engineering internship in the spring. During the fifth year, students will complete their degree requirements at Missouri S&T.

“We, as humans, need to be guided by strong ethics and morals to harness our formidable technological and productive power,” says Dr. Michel Gueldry, program director of global engineering and professor of French at S&T. “International experience and an appreciation for other cultures is one way of helping in this direction.”

For more information about S&T’s global engineering program, contact Gueldry at globalengineering@mst.edu.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,100 students and is part of the four-campus University of Missouri System. Located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 different degree programs in 40 areas of study and is ranked by CollegeFactual as the best public university to study engineering. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.