University Relations
April 11, 2008 Communique
UCCS to award scholarship in instructor’s honor
The UCCS College of Engineering and Applied Science will award the first Greg Sajdak Scholarship in ceremonies scheduled for 10 a.m. April 18.
Christopher Dole, a Colorado Springs junior majoring in electrical engineering, will receive the $3,000 scholarship named in honor of Sajdak, a UCCS alumnus and instructor who also worked as an engineer for Agilent Technologies. Sajdak died in Oct. 2007 at age 43 from cancer. The scholarship was established by friends and family in his honor.
“We miss Greg Sajdak nearly every day,” R. “Dan” Dandapani, associate dean, College of Engineering and Applied Science, said. “But through this scholarship, we believe his spirit of entrepreneurship and invention continues,”
Dole, a Sand Creek High School graduate, will receive a scholarship valued at $3,000. He hopes to pursue a career in analog integrated circuit design and is completing an internship at MITRE Corporation.
Attending the ceremonies in the offices of Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak will be Dole, Sajdak’s sister, Julie Jones, Blue River, and university officials.
A 1982 Air Academy High School graduate, Sajdak attended classes at UCCS while still in high school. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Rice University, Houston, before returning to UCCS to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering and twice earning outstanding graduate student awards. He taught until 2004 as a part-time instructor, donating his salary to a scholarship fund for electrical and computer engineering students.