The fellowships will enable students with degrees from Taiwan's National Chung Hsing University to pursue advanced engineering degrees at UCLA.
Lin, who graduated from National Chung Hsing University with a degree in economics, is the president and CEO of Spacy Industrial Co., Ltd., which he founded with his wife, Jennifer Liang. The company sources, imports and exports hand tools and power tools, hardware, and machinery from Taiwan, Japan and China to the United States, Europe and many other parts of the world.
In 2007, Lin was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater. His son currently is a first-year graduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UCLA Engineering.
"We are very thankful to Mr. Lin for his generosity," said Vijay K. Dhir, dean of UCLA Engineering. "Increasing the level of funding for graduate students is a major component of our Enhancing Engineering Excellence initiative. Gifts like this are essential in helping to fulfill the school's mission on many levels."
The school's goal is to raise $25 million in fellowship funds, enough to provide financial assistance to all first-year doctoral students. The Wan Nien Fellowships are part of UCLA Engineering's Enhancing Engineering Excellence (E3) initiative, a $100 million fundraising effort aimed at generating new endowed faculty chairs, graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships, as well as funds for capital projects and diversity initiatives.
The fellowships are also part of UCLA's Bruin Scholars Initiative, aimed at generating $500 million for graduate student fellowships and undergraduate scholarships by 2013. The Bruin Scholars fund drive builds on the success of the Ensuring Academic Excellence initiative, launched in June 2004 by then-Chancellor Albert Carnesale to raise $250 million over five years to help recruit and retain the very best students and faculty.
"I believe the best gift one can give is education," Lin said. "To me, UCLA is a welcoming environment for students from around the world, and a beacon of opportunity. These fellowships are intended to offer worthy students' an opportunity to study at a premier engineering school."
The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, established in 1945, offers 28 academic and professional degree programs, including an interdepartmental graduate degree program in biomedical engineering. Ranked among the top 10 engineering schools at public universities nationwide, the school is home to eight multimillion-dollar interdisciplinary research centers in wireless sensor systems, nanotechnology, nanomanufacturing and nanoelectronics, all funded by federal and private agencies.
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