Deborah ’83 and Kenneth Delano, Jr. ‘84 have established the Deborah ’83 and Kenneth Delano, Jr. ’84 Dean’s Scholars Award. This award will provide one or more scholarships to full-time incoming freshman students who have excelled academically, demonstrated outstanding leadership and are pursuing an undergraduate degree in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University.
As first-generation Aggies, Deborah and Kenneth each decided to attend Texas A&M for a multitude of reasons.
Deborah chose Texas A&M because it was an excellent engineering school for the study of computer science. “Because of my degree and experience gained through the years, I have been able to secure work easily no matter where we have lived,” she said.
Similarly, Kenneth chose Texas A&M because he wanted to go to a university with an outstanding engineering program and stay in Texas because of the lower tuition costs. “Texas A&M fit the bill and helped me pay my college expenses with a scholarship," he said.
Deborah and Kenneth wanted to establish this scholarship with Texas A&M for a few reasons. “Texas A&M was our home for more than four years. We had some professors who really cared that we learned and we made good friendships,” Deborah said. “We also both received scholarships to assist in achieving our goal of getting our education, and now we want to give that gift to others.”
Since they got married, Deborah and Kenneth have wanted to give back to Texas A&M and help others get a college degree in engineering. “We have established several scholarships in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M and are always looking for new areas that can benefit from financial assistance, and which we feel are good programs,” Deborah said. “Thus, this scholarship, the Dean’s Scholar Award, was established to aid select freshmen achieve the goal of becoming an engineer.”
“The students we have met who have received our scholarships are truly exceptional people. Texas A&M has helped them grow and given them the foundation to succeed in life and in their careers,” Kenneth said.
Deborah and Kenneth hope their gift will help increase the number of engineers around the world. “Texas A&M will provide them the opportunity to learn and make a difference in new fields with growth and improvements in existing fields,” Deborah said.
The Delanos have two children, Cynthia and Michael, and although neither are Aggies, they hope their grandson Braydon will attend Texas A&M in the future.
Giving With A Purpose
A Dean’s Scholar Award can be established as an endowment of $100,000 or by committing to a four-year contribution of $4,000 each year for a total of $16,000. If you are interested in supporting the Dean’s Scholars Award Program or would like more information on how you can give, please contact True Brown, director of development.