History

E. Wayne Kay and his wife, Beulah, lived the American dream. They both attended Iowa State University and came to Detroit in the early 1940s, where they created and managed a successful chrome-plating business.

Wayne Kay was deeply committed to SME. He served as chair of Detroit Chapter 1 in 1945 and helped organize Macomb Chapter 142. Upon her death in 1991, Beulah Kay's living trust instructed the trustee of her estate to pay the SME Education Foundation $1.6 million to establish an endowed scholarship fund in memory of her late husband, E.

Wayne Kay. It is the single largest gift received by the SME Foundation to date.

Criteria

A. Scholarship applicants must be a graduating high school senior or full-time undergraduate student enrolled in a degree program in manufacturing or a closely related field at a two year Community College or trade school in the United States or Canada.

B. Scholarship applicants may be entering Freshmen or Sophomore students with less than 60 college credit hours completed and be seeking a career in manufacturing engineering or technology.

C. Scholarship applicants must possess an overall minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

D. The scholarship can be used only as a credit toward books, fees, or tuition.