Ford gives $10 million to Smith for women-only engineering program

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – In keeping with its strong commitment to advancing opportunities for women in engineering, Ford Motor Company has pledged $10 million to Smith College, the first and only women’s college in the country to offer an engineering degree.

The gift will underwrite a significant portion of the cost of a new, state-of-the-art engineering teaching and research facility at the college. A year-long planning process for the Ford building is expected to begin immediately.

The gift, the largest single gift to the college from a corporation, brings Ford’s financial commitment to Smith’s program to $12.5 million. A previous gift of $2.5 million, awarded last summer, continues to support academic program development, outreach, recruitment and scholarships for Smith engineering students.

"Ford’s commitment to our new program has been decisive and pivotal," noted Smith President Ruth J. Simmons. "We are grateful for their interest and support which, from the outset, has enabled us to envision engineering education that will not only benefit our own students but could serve as a model for bringing women into engineering."

Jacques Nasser, CEO and president, Ford Motor Company, said, "Ford Motor Company has made this commitment to Smith as a model for bringing women and minorities into the engineering field and into the workforce. We know that diversity of genders, races, nationalities and beliefs is a great competitive advantage. We can't get to where we want to go without women as leaders."

Simmons will formally accept the Ford gift at a March 29 reception on campus, at which Nasser will be the guest of honor. Nasser’s visit sets the stage for a March 30 – 31 summit at Smith titled "Designing the Future," at which CEOs, college presidents, deans, faculty members and foundation representatives will focus on educationally based strategies and policies for encouraging women and other underrepresented groups to pursue careers in technology. Established in February 1999, Smith’s Picker Program in Engineering and Technology is focused on developing broadly educated, well-rounded engineers capable of assuming leadership roles in corporations, non-profit organizations and technology-related fields.

The program’s unprecedented linkage of engineering education and the liberal arts is designed to attract women not only strong in scientific and technical aptitude but also capable of exceptional creativity and humanistic understanding.

In keeping with the program’s approach to engineering as a bridge linking different areas of knowledge, the Ford building will attempt to incorporate some space for the arts and humanities as well as engineering.

"One of the reasons our program is proving attractive to women students and, by extension, to leading corporations, is because we are committed to a deliberate integration of engineering and the liberal arts," explained Domenico Grasso, director of the Picker program.