A Gift Engineered for Impact

Bruce Conway always knew he wanted to be an engineer. He enjoyed math and was interested in learning as much as he could. Maybe the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree, since his father was an aerospace engineer at NASA.

Bruce grew up in Hampton but wanted to go away to college. When he was accepted to Virginia Tech, he immediately enrolled in the aerospace engineering program.

During college, Bruce found his way into a co-op program, where he could take classes for a semester, then come back home and work for NASA for a semester. It was an exceptional opportunity, and completing the co-op program meant he was guaranteed a job at NASA following graduation!

After returning to Hampton Roads, Bruce earned his master’s degree while working at NASA on programs like spacecraft controls and Skylab. Then he was asked to teach at the apprentice program at Langley and found that he really enjoyed being in the classroom and helping students with advanced math and science.

Later, Bruce was recruited to teach at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University a few nights a week at several military bases in Hampton Roads.

Bruce continued advancing at NASA and managed programs at the Assistant Division Chief and Division Chief levels. He even moved his family outside of Washington D.C. for a brief appointment at NASA Headquarters in the mid-1970s.

But through his career, Bruce enjoyed teaching the most “Teaching keeps you on your toes. And I really enjoy preparing students for the next step in their lives and careers.”

When he retired from NASA in 1998, Bruce planned to increase his teaching responsibilities at Embry-Riddle, which would require a Ph.D. It just so happened that Old Dominion University offered a Ph.D. in Engineering Management. ODU was local, and he felt it was a more effective program than the others he researched.

Bruce took most of his classes at the ODU Peninsula Center, through the Teletechnet distance learning program. In the early 1990s, the ODU Teletechnet was one of the largest distance learning initiatives of its kind.

It provided students at remote locations with a live ODU instructor through the use of satellites, televisions and two-way video connections. Today, ODU Global is an online education platform, but it all started with Teletechnet!

After graduating from ODU with his Ph.D. in Engineering Management/Systems Engineering, Bruce was asked to teach part of the program at ODU. He agreed of course!

Over the years, Bruce has taught and helped thousands of students in the aerospace and engineering fields. He has been teaching at ODU for 20 years, and at Embry-Riddle for 45 years…and still counting!

Bruce and his wife Carol can see the students’ need for tuition assistance. They have enjoyed supporting funding for student scholarships, and know their generosity makes an impact.

But when Bruce turned 72, he realized he would soon be required to start taking distributions from his IRA. Instead of paying taxes on that money, Bruce and Carol used their Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) to fund the Bruce and Carol Conway Scholarship to assist an engineering student at ODU.

They also support student scholarships at Embry-Riddle and Virginia Tech. “We know it helps make college more affordable for that future engineer,” he said.

If you would like to learn how you can save on taxes and make a lasting impact on future students by directing your IRA distribution to ODU, please contact Barbara M. Henley, CFRE at 757/683-6563 or bhenley@odu.edu or Brett Smiley, CFRE @ (757) 683-4735.