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October 4, 2005
When Steve Piazza, (B.S. 1975) and his wife Lori Dietrich, (M.B.A. 1989) sat down to plan their wills, they decided to take the long view. They included two bequests to the University of Minnesota - one to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the other to the Carlson School of Management MBA program. Both gifts will create endowed scholarship funds which will provide support to students year after year.
Bequests often come from older alumni when they begin their estate planning. But for Lori and Steve the time was right. In 1970, Steve was discharged from the U.S. Navy. With only a high school diploma, he became acutely aware that his career options were limited. He had always planned to attend the
University, but until completing his military duty the funding was not available. Steve used the GI Education bill and part-time jobs to cover his college expenses.
After working in industry for several years, Steve was promoted to a management position charged with building a new department. This required him to hire many employees. Again Steve was made aware of the need for a potential employee to have a formal education since before he was provided with a list of candidates, others had “filtered” that list. Steve knew that many good candidates never reached his point in the interview process simply because they did not have the right “letters” after their name.
Lori grew up in a small town where she also realized that a formal education increased her job options. Her parents were blue collar workers without great financial assets. However, her parents encouraged all of the children to attend college and provided what funding they could. Lori used that parental funding and part-time jobs to complete her undergraduate degree.
These experiences and many others have led Lori and Steve to realize that a person’s career path is greatly influenced by obtaining a college education. The education opens “doors” and “opportunities” for that person. It is up to that person to keep the doors open.
Lori and Steve readily state that “Our college educations gave us the opportunities we needed. With our bequests, we want to unlock doors for others.”
Lori is Director of Finance for Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP, a Minneapolis law firm. Steve works in software development for DataCard Corporation, a Minnetonka “Secure ID and Card Personalization Solutions” company.
Soundbyte, Fall 2004-Winter 2005
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