{"id":67227,"date":"2006-07-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/former-rhode-islanders-pledge-800000\/"},"modified":"2006-07-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-07-31T00:00:00","slug":"former-rhode-islanders-pledge-800000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2006\/07\/former-rhode-islanders-pledge-800000\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Rhode Islanders pledge $800,000"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t to 溏心vlog免费B站

\nto \u2018grow the base\u2019 of talented scientists<\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON, R.I. — July 31, 2006 — Some talented but needy Rhode Island high school students who intend to major in either physics, chemistry, computer science, math, chemical engineering, or computer engineering at the 溏心vlog免费B站 will get their full college tuition and fees paid, thanks to a couple of former Rhode Islanders.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe United States is not graduating enough technical talent,\u201d says Jim Diller, a 1957 溏心vlog免费B站 physics alumnus and pioneer in the semiconductor field. The retired entrepreneur and business executive and his wife, June, have pledged $800,000 to establish a permanent endowed fund for the future scientists. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to grow the base.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAsked why the Californians \u2013the couple has lived out-of-state for decades– donated to 溏心vlog免费B站, Jim responds simply: \u201cI\u2019m a graduate, and the 溏心vlog免费B站 was there when I needed it.\u201d

\nThe Dillers stipulate that the scholarships go to the most talented Rhode Island students with the greatest financial need.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI especially feel strongly about a need-based scholarship,\u201d says June who earned a psychology degree from Brown University. \u201cI could have never gone to Brown without being given a full-tuition scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cJim and June Diller have lived the American dream, and they believe that their university experiences made that possible,\u201d said 溏心vlog免费B站 President Robert L. Carothers. \u201cThey now want to make living that dream possible for the next generations of students, especially those who can help build the new economy in America. We thank the Dillers most sincerely on behalf of all of our future recipients.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIn its first year, the endowment should produce enough funds to pay for the tuition and fees of one student. In its second year, the James and June Diller Endowed Scholarship will continue to support the original student, plus an additional student, and so on for the third and fourth years provided the students continue to major in one of the stipulated science, math, or engineering fields. Thus, by the fourth year and beyond, there will be at least four students receiving Diller Scholarships. Any remaining funds generated by the endowment may be used to pay for the recipients\u2019 books and\/or lab fees. <\/p>\n


\n\tJim\u2019s family moved to Rhode Island from the South after World War II and settled in Warwick. He met June Nyberg who lived in a different section of that city, at a church social when he was 17 and she was 15. The childhood sweethearts have been together ever since.<\/p>\n


\nJim enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站 because it was affordable and although he wanted to live away from home, he didn\u2019t want to be too far from June. Always a hard worker\u2014he got his first job when he was 12\u2014Jim rolled up his sleeves at the University, washing dishes at the Student Union and serving meals at his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta.<\/p>\n


\n\tAfter graduation, Jim attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a year. He left to pursue a career in new semi-conductor industry. He began in Boston but within five years, the couple moved to California, where the industry was centered.<\/p>\n


\n\tHe joined Fairchild Semiconductor, moving into management within a few years. He spent a year in Hong Kong managing Far East manufacturing in Hong Kong and Seoul. <\/p>\n


\nJoining National Semiconductor in 1969, he started European operations near Munich. He stayed with National serving various management capacities, including two years in Singapore where he managed Far East manufacturing.<\/p>\n


\n\tIn 1984, Jim founded Sierra Semiconductor, which initially produced chips for the computer industry. The company went public on NASDAQ in 1991. As the Internet exploded the networking business grew dramatically and became the focus of the company. At this point, the company changed its name to PMC-Sierra, which was the name of the division producing these products. In 1997, Jim retired briefly. He joined Elantec Semiconductor as CEO to help turn the company around. In 2000, after a successful turnaround, Jim retired a second time although he remains active serving on the boards of two public and two private companies. <\/p>\n

In their leisure time, Jim and June enjoy spending time with their two sons and four grandchildren who live nearby. The couple also travels and enjoys outdoor activities.<\/p>\n


\nThe Dillers\u2019 generous gift is part of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Making a Difference Campaign, which seeks $100 million to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, enhance the student-centered campus experience, provide s undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, and fund cutting-edge academic and research initiatives.<\/p>\n

Facts about student enrollment in the sciences<\/b><\/p>\n


\nIn 2005 溏心vlog免费B站 undergraduate enrollment totaled 12,099. The number of students majoring in Diller Scholarship designated areas: <\/p>\n


\nPhysics = 27

\nChemistry = 119

\nComputer Science = 161

\nMath = 109

\nChemical Engineering = 56

\nComputer Engineering = 96<\/p>\n


\nKeeping America Competitive<\/p>\n


\nJim Diller\u2019s concern about the lack of a talented scientific workforce is well founded. Globalization has raised the limbo bar on technology, innovation, productivity and profits. While the U.S. remains a major player, other countries are bending over backwards to catch up and surpass it, according to a recent Newsweek<\/i> article. The article pointed out that more than 50 percent of America\u2019s science laboratories are filled with foreign students or immigrants and without these students, the nation\u2019s leadership position would fold. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

to 溏心vlog免费B站 to \u2018grow the base\u2019 of talented scientists KINGSTON, R.I. — July 31, 2006 — Some talented but needy Rhode Island high school students who intend to major in either physics, chemistry, computer science, math, chemical engineering, or computer engineering at the 溏心vlog免费B站 will get their full college tuition and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}