Giving the Gift of Education
“My father was instrumental in my joining the Co-op program because my family could not afford all the out-of-state costs of sending me to Tech. My Co-op experience at GTRI proved invaluable.”
James A. McKenzie, EE 1979, credits his experiences as a Co-op student for the direction of both his career and his personal life. Although he came to the Institute “with math skills and an interest in electronics and aviation,” his Co-op experience “helped me select upper-class electives that allowed me to step comfortably into my first semiconductor role.” He spent 41 years as an analog semiconductor product developer and retired as a senior design engineer in 2020.
Through his Co-op job, James also met the woman he would later marry. “Sheila was working in the chemistry lab at Tech to fund her own education at Georgia State University,” James says. “After graduation, she became the secretary for a newly formed GTRI group. I was assigned to help Sheila arrange her office, and she kept me busy moving heavy Steelcase furniture around.” James says he succumbed to “her big brown eyes, which were irresistible. We started dating and were married the following June.”
James favored a charitable gift annuity because it generated retirement income and allowed him to support Georgia Tech. “Once I learned that the Georgia Tech Foundation’s investment and management of the gift could create a usable, posthumous scholarship endowment, I was all in.”
The Sheila W. McKenzie Scholarship Endowment will support female Co-op students in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Although Shelia was happy in her choice to be a full-time homemaker, James says “she regretted not being made aware at an early age of all the career choices she could pursue. I hope this scholarship will help deserving young women understand all their educational options.”
Like James, your gift will help transform the lives of Georgia Tech students. To learn more, please contact Gift Planning at 404.894.4678 or giftplanning@dev.gatech.edu today.