 |
Howard and Candy
Friesen: Helping students to help themselves
|
In
addition to funding scholarships for more than 70 students,
Howard and Candy Friesen will endow two EECS chairs through
their estate.
ANGELA PRIVIN PHOTO |
Candy Penther (B.A.’50 L&S) and Howard Friesen (B.S.’50
EECS) met at a Sunday orientation council party at Berkeley in
1948. They were sophomores then and married in 1951, when both
were working in San Francisco. They have lived in Marin County
since 1954.
The Friesens have fond memories of their days at Berkeley, but
it was philanthropy rather than nostalgia that beckoned them back
to campus. The couple has funded more than 70 scholarships to
entering first-year or transfer students since 1994.
"Uncle Sam paid for my education through the veterans’
program," says Howard. "If it weren’t for that
I might not have gone to Cal." He is retired owner and president
of Yamas Controls, Inc., a manufacturers’ representative
firm specializing in installation of commercial building control
systems in California and Nevada.
So impressed with the accomplishments, rigor, and enthusiasm of
the students they are funding, the couple has decided to do more
to support the College. As part of their Berkeley overall giving
plans, the Friesens plan to establish two endowed chairs through
their estate. One will honor Candy’s father, the late Carl
J. Penther (B.S.’27, EECS), and both chairs will support
the research of distinguished faculty in the College’s EECS
Department. Their reward for supporting Berkeley, they believe,
is the knowledge that they are contributing to a better world.
"One of the best things you could do to benefit society,"
Candy says, "is to make sure that a fine education is available
to those who need it and want it."
by Angela Privin, Engineering Public Affairs
|
|
FOREFRONT takes you into the labs,
classrooms, and lives of professors, students, and alumni for
an intimate look at the innovative research, teaching, and campus
life that define the College of Engineering at the University
of California, Berkeley.
Published three times a year by the Engineering Public Affairs
Office. Have a comment about Forefront? E-mail
your letter to the editor. Click here
to learn more about the magazine.
|
|
