| Ron Garriques (ENG'86) has earned degrees from three institutions, but, he says, "Boston University is the college I relate to most, probably because it is where I started."
Indeed, Garriques, a Motorola executive, has maintained close ties with the College of Engineering over the years. He received the college's Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to the Profession in 2000, and last year he spoke at the college's commencement convocation. He has been a member of the ENG Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board since 2001 and is the department's representative on Dean David Campbell's Advisory Council.
Now Garriques has pledged $600,000 to endow a scholarship in his mother's name-the first fully endowed scholarship at the College of Engineering. "My mom is really the driving force for me going to college, and specifically Boston University," he says.
What kind of student does he hope will benefit from the Sandra Garriques Scholarship Fund? "Someone who has to work as hard as I did to get through their four years at Boston University. It was not easy," he says.
Garriques received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from BU, a master's in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He held management positions at AT&T and Philips Consumer Communications in the 1980s and 1990s and joined Motorola in 1998. He and his wife, Karena, also an engineer, have two children.
Today, Garriques is a Motorola senior vice president and general manager who divides his time between London and Chicago. "As a Motorolan," he says, "giving back to our community is something we all pride ourselves in. This is my way of giving back to the community."
Garriques told his mother about the gift this past Christmas. "She was very excited," he says. "She thought it was a good way to 'invest' my money and said that she was proud of me. So many people in today's world would take the money and buy material things, and I am using it to give someone else a chance to make a better life."
— Cynthia K. Buccini |
