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Lehwalder is doing his = part to=20 make sure that this continues. Last spring he and his wife, Lois, = pledged=20 $145,000 to support the Presidential Scholars program and the MSU=20 Library.
The sixth of 10 children, Lehwalder grew up in Butte. = His=20 father, who was born and raised in Germany, ran a tailor shop. His = mother was=20 born to a pioneering Montana family on one of the first homesteads = outside of=20 what is now Kalispell. Although neither of his parents attended college, = Lehwalder said they made a conscious decision not to buy an automobile = so that=20 they could help put all of their children through college, which they = did.=20 Lehwalder chose Montana State on the strength of its chemistry=20 program.
It was not easy to be a chemistry student at Montana = State then,=20 Lehwalder said, but something O.E. Sheppard, then head of the chemistry=20 department, told him when he was a student stuck with him.
"He = told me=20 'Now this is a small school-- not very well known--but I want to be = sure=20 that you can really compete with those from the famous schools,' so he = really=20 poured it into us," Lehwalder said.
The effort paid off. = Lehwalder was=20 recruited by Shell Development Company and spent the next 38 years of = his life=20 with the oil company, where he became an expert on oil separation and=20 purification processes. During World War II, his division supported the = nation's=20 war efforts by providing new fuels, weaponry and penicillin. He spent = the last=20 13 years of his career at Shell's head office.
"Shell Development = hired=20 outstanding students from all over the country--places like MIT, = Caltech,=20 Stanford, you name it," Lehwalder said. "I felt that the science = background I=20 got at Montana State was as good as--and in many cases, better than--my = fellow=20 hirees."
The endowments that the Lehwalders have established are = helping=20 MSU graduates remain competitive well into the future, according to = Ilse-Mari=20 Lee, director of the University Honors Program at MSU, which administers = the=20 Presidential Scholarship program.
Presidential Scholarship = recipients=20 receive annual tuition waivers, a generous merit grant and other = incentives each=20 of their four years. Lee said that gifts such as the Lehwalders' have = helped MSU=20 maintain 20 Presidential Scholarships, even though tuition and other = costs have=20 increased.
"Past Presidential Scholars have received the Rhodes, = Truman,=20 Mitchell, Marshall and Goldwater scholarships, and have gained admission = to the=20 nation's top graduate and professional schools," Lee said. The = Lehwalders'=20 generous support of the program will help us continue to attract top = scholars to=20 study here at Montana State University."
Patrick Tate, a junior = in=20 chemical engineering, biological engineering and Hispanic studies from=20 Vancouver, Wash., and Emma Murter, a sophomore nursing major from = Hardin, are=20 the inaugural Lehwalder Presidential Scholars.
Last fall, David = and Lois=20 Lehwalder, who live in Montana's Ruby River Valley, met the scholars = their gift=20 supports. It was great to see the impact that their gift is making, = David said.=20 Lehwalder said Tate and Murter reminded him of qualities he had as a=20 student.
"I was very impressed with them," Lehwalder said. "They = are very=20 serious and dedicated students who intend to continue their education = beyond=20 their bachelor's degree."
Tate had an affinity for = Montana and a=20 vague familiarity with Bozeman, but he might have ended up attending = college=20 somewhere else if not for the Presidential Scholars program at MSU and = some=20 well-timed visits by an MSU recruiter.
"A fellow named Mike = Ouert, who=20 works in the admissions office, came to my high school two years in a = row," Tate=20 said. "He told me about the Presidential Scholarship. He looked at my = numbers=20 and said, 'You should consider applying for this.'"
When Tate = visited=20 campus to interview for the Presidential Scholarship, he knew it was a = good=20 match.
"When I came here, I could really see myself going to = school=20 here," he said. "I could really visualize it, which is how I've decided = on a lot=20 of things in my life. As soon as I was awarded the (Presidential)=20 Scholarship...that sealed the deal."
"To not be stressed about how I am going to pay for =
my=20
education means I can take all that enery and focus on school and=20
extracurricular activities." - Patrick Tate
Tate, whom Lee = calls "an=20 outstanding Presidential Scholar, a leader among his peers and a person = of great=20 integrity," has made the most of his time at MSU. A junior = triple-majoring in=20 chemical engineering, biological engineering and Hispanic studies, he = made the=20 President's List (4.0 GPA) all five semesters that he has been at MSU. = He is=20 active in the Montana Beta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon of the American=20 Institute of Chemical Engineers and is a member of the MSU Spanish Club. = As a=20 freshman, Tate worked in the Biochemical Engineering Lab and studied in = San=20 Jose, Costa Rica, as part of MSU's study abroad program.
When = he's not in=20 school or studying, Tate likes to visit Yellowstone and the area's hot = springs,=20 explore ghost towns, snowshoe and dirt bike. But academics always comes = first.=20
"Probably the biggest thing that my parents have instilled in me = is that=20 academics is number one," Tate said. "When I'm here, that's=20 priority."
Last fall, Tate had an opportunity to thank the donors = who=20 have helped make his education at MSU possible, when he met David and = Lois=20 Lehwalder for breakfast a couple of days after David Lehwalder's 91st=20 birthday.
"One of my proudest moments, honestly, is getting to = meet the=20 Lehwalders," Tate said. "That was pretty neat. They're such a huge part = of my=20 education."
Tate explained that a Presidential Scholarship means = he=20 doesn't have to work while going to school, which is "a huge weight off = (his)=20 shoulders."
"To not be that stressed about how I am going to pay = for my=20 education means I can take all that energy and focus it on school and=20 extracurricular activities."
Despite the 70 years that separates = them,=20 there are similarities between Tate and Lehwalder. Tate graduated number = one in=20 his class from Columbia River High School with a 4.0 grade point = average.=20 Lehwalder was third in his class and president of the National Honor = Society at=20 Butte High School. Tate interned last summer at the BP Cherry Point Oil = Refinery=20 in Birch Bay, Wash. Lehwalder studied chemistry and went to work for = Shell Oil=20 for 38 years as a chemical engineer.
Following his graduation, = Tate would=20 like to get his MBA and start his own business.
"My dad was a = small=20 business owner pretty much my entire life," Tate said. "It's something = I've=20 always admired and always wanted to do myself."
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