Released on November 23, 2009

Bruce Dienst, president and chief operating officer of Simpson Technologies, Aurora, Ill., announced the creation of a new endowment in the name of Peter L. Simpson at the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF) College Industry Conference on Nov. 20.

An original Peter L. Simpson Memorial Fellowship Fund was established with a $20,000 grant by Bruce L. Simpson in 1944 (three years prior to FEF’s founding) to the mechanical engineering school at Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill. The fund was restricted to providing support to graduate level research within the department of mechanical engineering in the subject of metalcasting molding sand preparation and control. Peter Simpson founded Simpson Technologies in 1912 and is the grandfather of Bruce Simpson and great-grandfather of Dienst.

In 2008, the current representatives of the Simpson family and Northwestern Univ. reached an agreement to split the fund into two parts. One part has been retained by Northwestern Univ. and remains as the Peter L. Simpson Memorial Fellowship Fund within the mechanical engineering department at the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. The use of the fund has been expanded to include funding prominent guest lecturers, educational programs, and research or financial aid for students.

The second part of the fund, in the amount of $700,000, has been transferred to FEF to create the Peter L. Simpson Fellowship Endowment. The new endowment retains the original purpose foreseen by Bruce Simpson to fund an engineering program accredited by the FEF to conduct research into the general field of metalcasting sand preparation and control. The funding may be used for basic research, the purchase of advanced laboratory instrumentation or other equipment, or financial aid for students or professors. The endowment is the largest single gift ever made to FEF.

FEF was established in 1947 to strengthen the metalcasting industry by supporting partnerships among students, educators and the industry.