Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

Simmons Scholarship Fund Is Established

ENDOWMENT
Simmons Scholarship
Fund Is Established

The R. P. Simmons Family Foundation of Pittsburgh has made a $1 million 
gift to MIT that is being used to create one of the largest scholarship 
funds at the Institute. 

The foundation was set up by Richard P. Simmons, a 1953 graduate who 
chairs the board and the executive committee of Pittsburgh-based 
Allegheny Ludlum Corporation. The gift will go into an endowment, the 
Richard P. Simmons '53 Scholarship Fund, whose proceeds will support 
scholarships for undergraduates. Preference will be given to students 
from western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, 
including the sons and daughters of Allegheny Ludlum employees. 

"This endowed scholarship fund reflects the Simmons family's desire to 
return to our communities some small token of the success we have 
enjoyed there," Mr. Simmons said. He added that the gift also reflects a 
respect for MIT's approach to education that dates to his own days as a 
student. 

Paul E. Gray, '54, chairman of the MIT Corporation, said the Institute 
is deeply gratified by the gift. "One of MIT's proudest traditions is 
making financial aid available, on the basis of need, to all qualified 
applicants," he said. "It's a tradition, though, sustained only at 
considerable cost. Dick Simmons has clearly recognized what this aid 
policy means to the bright young people who would like to come to MIT, 
and has made a generous contribution to their future success."

The Richard P. Simmons Scholarship Fund is one of fewer than 10 funded 
at the level of $1 million or above at MIT. 

Mr.  Simmons was born in Bridgeport, Conn. He majored in metallurgy at 
MIT, and after graduating joined Allegheny Ludlum. He worked there six 
years before moving on to managerial posts at Latrobe Steel and, 
subsequently, Republic Steel. Returning to Allegheny Ludlum in 1968, Mr.  
Simmons rose rapidly through the executive ranks. In 1980, he became 
president and chief executive officer of the specialty materials firm. 

Mr. Simmons has long been active in MIT affairs. He is a member of the 
Corporation, and is currently chairing the western Pennsylvania 
Committee of the MIT Campaign for the future.

He has also been a long-time donor. His most recent major gift prior to 
the one setting up the scholarship fund went to create the Richard P. 
Simmons Professorship in Materials Manufacturing. 

When Mr. Simmons stepped down as CEO of Allegheny Ludlum in May 1990, 
the company's board and some of its major shareholders combined to 
create an endowed professorship in his honor. The new chair is the 
Richard P. Simmons Professorship in Metallurgy. 

Endowed financial aid funds at MIT are established in perpetuity. A 
portion of each year's income is applied to that year's scholarships, 
with the remainder being reinvested so the funds' ability to generate 
support does not shrink with inflation.