Arkansas Tech University alumni Linda and Grover Hettel have established an endowed engineering scholarship in the amount of $25,000 through the ATU Foundation.
“My wife and I have raised three children that all have obtained their degrees,” said Mr. Hettel. “Our daughter has obtained her doctorate degree and our twin sons both have degrees. One has obtained his master’s degree and the other his bachelor’s degree. When talking with our children when they were young, we always spoke to them about going to college. We wanted them to believe that this was their ticket to success as it was for Linda and I. With our success and our children success, we wanted to be a small piece of helping others achieve success. What better place to do that than where we started our success, Arkansas Tech.”
Mr. Hettel began taking classes at Arkansas Tech while he was still a senior at Russellville High School. With the assistance of the ATU engineering faculty, Mr. Hettel completed his degree in three years, graduated in May 1982 and went on to achieve his career goal of becoming a chief nuclear officer.
“During the years I went to Arkansas Tech, the faculty was very engaged with the students and cared deeply for the student, not only as a student, but also as a person,” said Mr. Hettel. “I spent many days talking with the dean of engineering (Dr. Archie Lambert) about my current situation as I tried to balance my available time between work and study and how to ensure I was able to take the course load so that I could graduate in three years. After talking with some of the current faculty, I believe that they are just as caring for their students as Dr. Lambert was with me and his other students.”
ATU is a family tradition for the Hettels. Four of Mr. Hettel’s siblings attended Arkansas Tech, and one of their sons obtained his mechanical engineering degree from ATU.
“We are very thankful for what Arkansas Tech has done for us in helping me in my goal of being one of a few chief nuclear officers in the United States,” said Mr. Hettel. “We really hope this is an avenue for other young adults to get a solid start to a successful career and significant achievements.”
Visit www.atualumni.com to learn more about establishing or supporting scholarships for the benefit of ATU students.
