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

The E. Wayne Kay Scholarship Fund will provide scholarships to graduating high school seniors based on the recipient's academic excellence and career path.

A. Scholarship applicants must be graduating high school students in their senior year who commit to enroll in a manufacturing engineering or technology program at an accredited college or university as a full-time freshman in the current summer or fall semester.

B. Scholarship applicants must possess an overall minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for their high school senior year.

C. This award is available only to graduating high school seniors. Students may apply for other scholarships offered through the Foundation in succeeding years.

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