Alumni Pay it Forward with Scholarships

As a student at Georgia Tech, Jimmy Loyd, CE 63, MS CE 66, relied on summer jobs and funds from his family to pay for tuition. And when he returned to Tech for a master’s degree, Loyd scraped through financially with a work scholarship and help from his wife,
Fannie Mae, who worked as a teacher.

Loyd knew that his education was thanks in large part to the benevolence of others. In the decades after his time at the Institute, Loyd joined the Chattanooga, Tenn., Alumni Network and started an annual golf tournament that greatly increased fundraising for scholarships allowing local students to attend Tech.

Loyd, who enjoyed a successful career in construction, died in 2006. His family worked with the Chattanooga Network to raise an endowment that, starting this year, will annually award a Tech scholarship to a student from the Chattanooga area.

“Jimmy had so many friends, work colleagues and subcontractors, and he involved them all in our scholarship golf tournament,” said Earl Burton, the current president of the Chattanooga Network. “Jimmy had a special personality and could instill enthusiasm and passion into people.”

The Loyd endowment is just one of the many efforts Georgia Tech networks and affinity groups have made to aid Tech students with scholarships. This academic year, students at Tech received $237,585 from 68 networks and groups.

The Black Alumni Organization has raised significant funding through an endowment commemorating the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Tech.

GTBAO also has begun working with the Office of Undergraduate Admission to deliver 18 provost scholarship letters to top out-of-state students to encourage them to enroll at Tech.

In March, the West Lanier, Ga., Alumni Network presented a check for $26,700 to the Alumni Association to use for student scholarships.

The network holds an annual golf tournament and sells signed photos of former Braves manager Bobby Cox to raise funds for scholarships.

Efforts are underway among several networks and groups to establish endowments that will allow them to offer scholarships every year, similar to the model established with the Jimmy Loyd endowment.

“The Chattanooga Network is a model for what can be accomplished when a network works together toward establishing an endowed scholarship,”
said Jane Stoner, the Alumni Association’s senior manager of networks.

“Jimmy would be so proud of this endowment. He was one of our most dedicated alums.”

For Loyd, raising money for scholarships wasn’t simply something he wanted to do. It was necessary.

“He would be thrilled to know that many others’ educational dreams will be accomplished in his name,” Burton said.

Interested in contributing to a scholarship? Contact Jane Stoner, senior manager of networks, at (404) 385-2216 or [email protected], or Debra Thompson, senior manager of affinity groups, at (404) 894-0779 or [email protected]. To find out more about networks and affinity groups, visit gtalumni.org/networksandgroups.

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