Fund: Brithinee Scholars Endowed Fund Department: Alumni Association Dept D01334 Purpose: Undergraduate Student Support BACKGROUND The Brithinee Alumni Scholarship Fund was established in 1988 by twin brothers Donald and Wallace Brithinee. It was designed to provide continuing scholarship support to UCR students who received the UCR Alumni Association scholarship in their first year. Initially, the Brithinee Fund provided four $1,000 scholarships. At present, four $4,000 scholarships are awarded. Since the establishment of the Brithinee Fund, 134 scholarships have been awarded totaling $346,000. Many of the student recipients have become medical doctors, attorneys, or completed graduate degrees in other fields. For more than three decades, the Brithinee brothers funded continuing UCR Alumni Association Scholars with current use gifts. The new Brithinee Scholars Endowed Fund will provide a source of support for these scholarships in perpetuity. Thankful for the opportunities that their public school education afforded them, Donald and Wallace Brithinee are among UCR's most loyal and generous supporters. "The challenging UCR experience gave us the desire and ability to do our best," comments Donald Brithinee. "I think our education provided us a chance to excel, not just succeed." Wallace Brithinee served as president and co-owner of Brithinee Electric in Colton until it was acquired by Sulzer in November 2018. Brithinee Electric was founded in October 1963, by Dr. Brithinee, his twin brother, Donald P. Brithinee, and their parents, Wallace and Zora Brithinee. Dr. Brithinee is an alumnus of UCR. He received his PhD in mathematics at UCR in 1971 at the young age of 22. Dr. Brithinee's identical twin brother, Dr. Donald P. Brithinee, is also an alumnus of UCR (BA '68, MA '70 and PhD '71 mathematics). In 2005, Dr. Brithinee's company, Brithinee Electric, began a relationship with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UCR. Their work was primarily with Professor V. Sundararajan and then-graduate student, Dr. Xin "Crystal" Xue ('08 MS electrical engineering and '09 PhD mechanical engineering). Dr. Xue joined Brithinee Electric in 2009 after graduating from UCR and continued her work there until 2014. Dr. Brithinee served on the Board of Advisors for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Brithinee Electric has also worked closely with senior undergraduate teams on their senior projects and built the controls for UCR's Coachella Valley Agricultural Research Station irrigation equipment. Dr. Brithinee is a consultant and former chair of the Manufacturers’ Council of the Inland Empire. He is currently a member of the Bourns College of Engineering Dean’s Council of Advisors and lives in Palm Springs, California. Fund Purpose: This Fund shall be used to provide scholarship support to undergraduate students at U.C. Riverside. Criteria and Selection Process: Administered by the UCR Alumni Association and in accordance with established University policy, Brithinee Scholars will meet the following criteria: Required criteria - 3.5 GPA or better - full-time UCR student - enrolled in 12 or more units - recipient of a UCR Alumni Association scholarship as a first year student Selection is based on academic merit, with financial need a consideration only in the event of a tie between applicants. In years when there is no candidate who meets the criteria, awards will be held until the following year.