Alumnus Creates Endowed Scholarship to Support International Students
- Dec 5, 2018
- Fiona Mazurenko
Alumnus Shinichi Iimura believes in the potential of UT’s global impact and is paying it forward to help future international students succeed academically.
Iimura was an international student at UT studying civil engineering and computer science. He graduated in 1977. Now a CEO of the Japanese electrical contractor company Koyo Engineering, Iimura is making a gift to UT in the form of an endowed scholarship called the Iimura Peace Endowed Scholarship. Through the scholarship, he intends not only to help international students, but he also hopes it will promote peace in Asia.
“It is my desire to help international students concentrate on their studies without financial pressure such as the need to work a part-time job,” Iimura said.
During his time at UT, Iimura greatly benefited from discussions with professors and peers and was able to connect with people on a personal level. He wants future international students to have the same experience.
“UT always offers an excellent opportunity for education to students. It is a world-class university with outstanding degree programs,” Iimura said. “Therefore, international students should try their best to study at UT so that they will be able to get the abundant benefit from this unique opportunity for such a high quality of education. My years at UT made a great difference in my business career and global networking opportunities.”
But his time at UT wasn’t all work. Iimura was and remains a loyal Longhorn football fan. During his visit to Austin in September, he attended the football match between UT and USC with President Gregory Fenves.
“One of my most vivid memories beside studying was going to Longhorn football games,” he said. “I never missed a single home game in DKR when I was a UT student.”
Iimura is involved with the Texas Exes in Japan and enthusiastic about growing the Japanese alumni community. He believes alumni should honor UT’s impact on them by helping current and future students.
“As alumni, this is one way we can show our gratitude for all that UT has done for us in the past,” Iimura said. “UT has done much to contribute to the global community and this is one way we can express our thanks. It is my desire to help international students concentrate on their studies without financial pressure.”
Ultimately, Iimura believes in the importance of growing UT’s international population because international students will change the world—in a myriad of ways.
“We live on the earth together and need to learn to cooperate with each other,” he said. “This is especially true since international students who attend The University of Texas will go on to take an important role after they return to their own country.”
