MHEDA Scholarship Fund

MHEDA’s Industry Advocacy Committee has established a scholarship fund to further the awareness and recognition of the material handling industry within the academic community. Each year, it is awarded to a worthy student enrolled in an industrial distribution curriculum.

Your contribution can be added directly to your dues payment and a receipt will be sent to you or, click here to print a Scholarship Fund Donation Form to make a contribution. Any amount you contribute is tax deductible and will be appreciated and acknowledged.

For more information about the Scholarship Program, read the article below.

Thank You, MHEDA!
By J. Sherman McLaughlin
Published in the 1st Quarter, Winter 2005 issue of The MHEDA Journal

MHEDA members have demonstrated support of education in material handling logistics for many years. In 2005, MHEDA established a "named scholarship" in the amount of $3,000 for study at Texas A&M University. The student recipient was Anshu Jalora, a final year Ph.D. candidate in industrial engineering. Mr. Jalora is a dedicated professional who spent time in the industry and then returned to Texas A&M to complete his education, with the goal of entering academia to continue research in the field. The Board of Directors of the Material Handling Education Foundation Inc. (MHEFI), who facilitated this scholarship, wishes to thank the members of MHEDA for their continued support.

On March 1, 2006, MHEFI will have been in existence for 30 years. Started in 1976 with a $3,000 grant from Henry Harnischfeger given to provide a single student scholarship in material handling studies, the present scholarship grant program has grown to a total of 503 recipients for graduate or undergraduate work in the field. The objective of the Foundation program is to promote the study of material handling and related subjects while exposing as many students as possible to this industry and its vast array of equipment, systems and technologies, as well as the many career paths available within the design, manufacturing, supplier, distributor and end-user sides of the industry. The goal of the program is to encourage choices upon graduation that will lead to continuing in the material handling industry, including teaching and research.

Over the years of its existence, the Foundation has disbursed over $1,625,000 for its programs. That support has come from product sections, affiliated trade associations and councils of the Material Handling Industry of America, individuals, corporations and businesses—many of which are members of MHIA—as well as other interested and supportive associations, such as MHEDA. The total of all scholarship awards to date is over $1,350,000. The balance of the funds received, $275,000, has been used for educational programming and for providing instructional aids such as literature and equipment to educational institutions. While there is some variation from year to year, in 2005 a total of 32 scholarship awards were made to 19 men and 13 women, in the total amount of $82,300 for study at 19 academic institutions.

The tradition of industry support Mr. Harnischfeger started has continued to build with the years.  The industry has consistently understood and accepted its responsibility for the Foundation scholarship program and the great importance of that program for the future of the material handling industry.

As the retiring president of the Foundation, I have had a great opportunity to watch all this unfold. As legal counsel responsible for incorporating the Foundation in 1976, and then over the years as a director and as president, I have been an active participant in this important program. Having achieved so much in these almost 30 years, I am certain the success will continue and the Foundation scholarship program will be ever stronger. Reading the scholarship applications and observing the outstanding success and achievement of the students after graduation are the best measures of the program and its importance. Thank you, MHEDA, for your valued support and participation.

For more information about the Material Handling Education Foundation Inc., please contact MHEFI Executive Director Victoria Wheeler at 704-676-1190. Contributions to the MHEDA scholarship can be made by contacting the MHEDA office at 847-680-3500.

J. Sherman McLaughlin is president of The Material Handling Education Foundation Inc., located in Charlotte, North Carolina.