The University of West Florida (UWF) announces the establishment of the Electrical Engineering Juergen and Helen Ihns Scholars Endowment, made possible through a $125,000 contribution from Helen Ihns. The endowment honors Helen and her late husband Juergen Ihns by providing four annual need-based scholarships to students pursuing degrees in electrical and computer engineering.
- Dr. Mohamed Khabou, dean of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, expressed his appreciation: “The Ihns family’s consistent support of UWF and its students has been remarkable. This generous gift continues their legacy of contributing to various UWF programs and perfectly reflects Juergen Ihns’s dedication as both an engineer and community leader.”
Juergen Ihns’s journey to the United States began in Brazil during World War II, when he arrived for flight training in Texas. He later returned to his native Brazil, serving as an officer in the Brazilian Air Force where he instructed pilots on PT-19’s, T-6’s and B-25’s. Following the war, Ihns pursued his electrical engineering degree at Purdue University. His career included positions as an engineer at General Electric and as a purchasing agent at the University of Florida. In 1965, Ihns became one of UWF’s first five employees when he was appointed as the inaugural Director of Purchasing. Together with his wife Helen, he maintained strong ties to the Pensacola community.
Selection of scholarship recipients will be handled collaboratively by the chair of the Dr. Muhammad Harunur Rashid Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the dean of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering.
For more information about giving to UWF, visit uwf.edu/give. For more information about the UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, visit uwf.edu/hmcse.
