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Supporter of the Foundry Educational Foundation

Simpson supports the North American metal casting industry through the financial support of the Foundry Educational Foundation. Simpson has been a continuous supporter of FEF every year since its inception in 1947 and Simpson Past President Bruce L. Simpson was a member of the original FEF Board of Trustees. Simpson Past President Henry W. Dienst served as an FEF Trustee from 1974-1978. Current Simpson President & CEO Bruce W. Dienst served two three-year terms with FEF as an FEF Trustee and Chairman of FEF Region 12 beginning in April 1998 and as FEF President in 2004-2005. Mr. Bruce Dienst remains active in FEF through the FEF President’s Advisory Council. As of today, Simpson has achieved FEF’s “Platinum Level” of corporate giving which is the highest level so far attained by any corporate donor.

In addition to Simpson’s annual regular giving Simpson maintains two designated funds at FEF to support various FEF programs.

Fellowship Endowment Fund

On 20th November, 2009 Simpson President & CEO Bruce W. Dienst announced at the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF) College Industry Conference in Chicago, IL the creation of the Peter L. Simpson Fellowship Endowment.

The original Peter L. Simpson Memorial Fellowship Fund was established with a $20,000 grant by Bruce L. Simpson in 1944, three years prior to the founding of the FEF, to the Mechanical Engineering school at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The fund was restricted to providing support to graduate level research within the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the subject of foundry molding sand preparation and control. Peter L. Simpson was the founder of Simpson in 1912 and is the grandfather of Bruce L. Simpson and great-grandfather of Bruce W. Dienst. The Simpson Gold Medal at the American Foundry Society (AFS) is also named in honor of Peter L. Simpson.

In 2008 the current representatives of the Simpson family and Northwestern University reached an agreement to split the fund into two parts. One part, in the amount of $250,000.00, would be retained by Northwestern University and remain as the Peter L. Simpson Memorial Fellowship Fund within the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science but the use of the fund would be expanded to include any one or more purposes such as funding prominent guest lecturers, educational programs, research or financial aid for students. The change in the restrictions associated with the fund use would significantly improve Northwestern’s ability to utilize the funds to meet their most important Engineering Department program needs.

The second part of the fund, in the amount of $700,000.00, has been transferred to FEF to create the Peter L. Simpson Fellowship Endowment with the original purpose foreseen by Bruce L. Simpson to fund an engineering program accredited by FEF to conduct research into the general field of foundry sand preparation and control. The funding may be used for any one or more purposes such as basic research, the purchase of advanced laboratory instrumentation or other equipment and/or financial aid for students or professors. It is expected that the results of this research would be made public and shared within the metal casting industry globally as a technical paper published in respected industry trade publications and/or a presentation made to industry technical meetings.

The Peter L. Simpson Fellowship Endowment is the largest single gift ever made to the Foundry Educational Foundation.

 

Nelson Hartley Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Nelson Hartley Memorial Scholarship Fund was established by Mr. Nelson Hartley, founder of Hartley Controls Corporation which was acquired by Simpson in the year 2000, and by Mr. Jim Keating of the Neenah Foundry Company in January of 1981 with a donation of $10,000. Since the year 2000 Simpson has continued to support and guide the fund with FEF. Earnings from the Nelson Hartley Memorial Scholarship Fund are regularly dispersed in the form of scholarships or program support typically to FEF schools in Wisconsin.

 

About the Foundry Educational Foundation

The Foundry Educational Foundation, FEF, was established in 1947 by the leaders of the metal casting industry to be the industry’s connection to educational programs at the college level. FEF includes a community college, four-year technology schools as well as traditional engineering colleges and graduate schools. It spans the broad range of higher education from production supervision to specialized research. The Mission of the Foundry Educational Foundation is to “strengthen the metal casting industry by supporting unique partnerships among students, educators and industry, helping today’s students become tomorrow’s leaders.” For more about FEF, please visit fefinc.org.