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Retiree gift establishes endowment for paper scholarships

April 26, 2007

KALAMAZOO--A retired Western Michigan University administrator has made a cash gift to establish a permanent endowment fund for scholarships to students enrolled in the paper science and paper engineering programs.

Richard W. Flores, who worked in the paper industry for 43 years and served as director of the WMU Paper Technology Foundation from 1983 until his retirement in 1993, has donated money for scholarships that will be awarded to full-time undergraduate students. Named for Flores and his wife, it will be called the Richard W. and Mary Jane Flores Endowed Scholarship.

Flores is a 1950 graduate of Lehigh University, earning a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. He has been a member of TAPPI, the leading technical association for the worldwide pulp, paper and converting industry, for 55 years and PIMA--the Paper Industry Management Association--the premier association for management professionals in the paper and pulp industry, for 45 years. He was national president of PIMA in from 1979 to 1980.

The amount of the scholarships will be determined by the Department of Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging based on the endowment's available spendable dollars. A minimum of one scholarship will be awarded each semester, provided funds are available. A scholarship committee will select recipients.

"As a former director of the Paper Technology Foundation, I am well aware of the great work going on in WMU's paper science and engineering programs," Flores says. "We wanted to do what we can to help support those programs and the students they serve."

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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