When George Stenzel left high school to work at the age of 15, he had no idea he’d become a college professor. It probably wouldn’t have happened if his boss hadn’t taken him aside one day and asked, “What do you do in the evenings, when you aren’t working?” After receiving a vague answer that included hanging out and playing pool, the boss suggested that Stenzel attend night school.
That boss was the first of several caring mentors who helped Stenzel get an education. Stenzel worked his way through college, studying forestry. In 1948, after working for the U.S. Forest Service and a pulp and paper company, Stenzel met the dean of the UW College of Forestry, who recruited him to teach in Seattle. During his tenure at the UW, Stenzel wrote a textbook with Professor Kenneth Pearce on logging and pulpwood.
Although Stenzel retired from the UW faculty in 1976, he and his wife, Marge, still want to help students. They have contributed $100,000 to create an endowed scholarship for undergraduates studying forest management and forest engineering. “I worked my way through school, so I know what’s involved,” says Stenzel. ”A scholarship would have meant a great deal to me, and I feel fortunate that now I can help others.”
George Stenzel isn’t the only UW faculty member who helps students. Each year since 1992, faculty members have been invited to donate to funds that support graduate or professional students, and to have their gifts matched through a special program. Currently, matching funds for this program are provided by gifts to the University from the Microsoft Corp. Over the last six years, UW professors have given more than $1.2 million to this matching program, including nearly $300,000 donated in 1997.