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| Estate gift immortalizes alum's positive spirit September 2006
Scott Seawell, a UW-Eau Claire alumnus who loved to travel, had been to many exotic locations, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands , but he never forgot that UW-Eau Claire was where his journey toward success began. Seawell a 1984 computer science graduate, was a leader in sales, marketing and product development in the communication industry. In addition to being an adventurer and communication industry leader, Seawell, who died of leukemia in October 2005 at the age of 43, wanted others to have the opportunity for a college education at the university he loved. He made a $200,000 estate gift to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, permanently endowing a scholarship fund for UW-Eau Claire students majoring in computer science. "Scott felt very strongly about education and wanted his gift to make a significant difference to deserving students," said Todd Seawell, Scott's brother. Scott's positive spirit will live on through the scholarship, said Todd. "Scott was always a great role model, and even as he fought his battle with leukemia he continued to teach me things. One thing I never heard him do was complain about his situation, and that is something everyone can learn from." Seawell's positive nature and willingness to share his gifts and talents started as an undergraduate at UW-Eau Claire, said Michael Wick, chair of the computer science department and Seawell's friend and former classmate. "Scott's good Samaritan attitude, his gentle way and sharp intellect made him a popular resource for other students working in the laboratory," Wick said. "It was a regular occurrence for Scott to overhear fellow students struggling with a program and give up his own time and energy to help them through the situation. This estate gift immortalizes his helping hand." Seawell's gift supports two annual scholarships of $4,000, which will be awarded to students who are juniors majoring in computer science with a GPA of 3.5 or above and who demonstrate financial need. The scholarships are renewable if the recipients continue to perform well academically. The scholarships will help students take advantage of an increasing demand for more computer science graduates, Wick said. "Based largely on media hype and the dot-com bust, student enrollments in computer science are falling nationwide," Wick said. "In contrast, with the recent turnaround in the economy, information technology employers are increasing demand for well-educated computer science graduates. The generous gift by Scott provides exactly the type of student scholarships that will enable our department to attract the quality and quantity of students necessary to meet our nation's growing need for IT professionals. It's a contribution which will live on in perpetuity."
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