Boeing Grant Provides Scholarships and Career Preparation
A decades-long partnership with The Boeing Company continues to grow as Truman recently received a $75,000 grant from the aerospace giant.
Since 2001, Boeing has sponsored scholarship programs at Truman in the areas of business, accounting, math, computer science and statistics. A total of more than $250,000 has been awarded to more than 200 students, making this one of the most impactful scholarship programs conducted through the Truman State University Foundation.
“We are fortunate to have a strong partnership with a global business leader like Boeing in our state that has opened a lot of doors for Truman students and graduates,” said Rashmi Prasad, dean of the School of Business. “Current students benefit from Boeing’s financial support and the hands-on opportunities available through internships and other innovative programs. This has translated to hundreds of alumni going on to successful careers in the industry.”
With this most recent award, Truman will provide 10 scholarships to support students with significant financial need. Funding will also allow for the continuation of The Boeing Bloomberg Terminal for Education in Violette Hall, as well as the creation of an interdisciplinary capstone coursed focused on solving environmental, society and governance challenges. Truman students will be selected from a variety of majors to work as a team to produce solutions to challenges presented to them. The course will be taught by a team of Truman faculty members with solutions presented to representatives from Boeing.
“Boeing is a very forward-thinking company in terms of identifying talent and maximizing it to its full potential. It says a lot about Truman and the type of students we have that this partnership was established more than 20 years ago and it continues to grow today,” said Jim Bergman, instructor of business administration.
Boeing has a successful history of creating and supporting programs at Truman. For more than a dozen years, the Boeing Future Leaders in Thought and Experience (FLITE) has encouraged collaboration between the aerospace company and the University. Designed specifically for underrepresented students, this 10-week program aims to create world-class inclusive thought leaders. Participants spend four days during the week working with Boeing in a specific business capacity, with every Friday dedicated to FLITE School where they learn about one of five topics to help maximize their learning experience and increase their business acumen.
Since 2009, the University’s TRU-Leaders partnership with Boeing has provided opportunities for students with demonstrated high potential in leadership. Each year, 20-25 students are selected by the dean of the School of Business for activities in the spring semester. Participating students are expected to be involved in a business-related organization. As part of the program, they have unique opportunities to visit corporations, receive co-curricular advisement, participate in seminars designed especially for development of leadership and professional attributes, and attend special sessions with business leaders and visiting executives.
Building off of the success of TRU-Leaders, Truman plans to use some of the recent grant to create Boeing TRU-Leaders Next-Gen. Geared toward middle and high school students, this program will not only serve as a recruitment tool for the University, it will also help younger students develop leadership and interpersonal skills to enhance their future career options. TRU-Leaders Next-Gen started as a pilot in spring 2023 at Kirksville High School.
Other benefits from Truman’s partnership with Boeing include field trips to the company’s facilities in the St. Louis area, as well as campus visits and guest presentations from Boeing representatives.
For information about scholarships available to Truman students, click here, or contact Dawn Howd, director of stewardship.
