The association’s scholarship foundation distributed $17,000 to West Virginia college students who were pursuing an education and careers in construction or engineering. Smith was this year’s top scholarship recipient.
He graduated from Marshall in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, and shortly afterward started a landscaping business. This piqued his interested in the engineering field, and Smith came back to Marshall and enrolled in the College of Information Technology and Engineering. He is now pursuing a civil engineering degree while continuing to run his landscape business and working for CAWV member firm Martin Engineering PLLC in Hurricane, West Virginia.
Dr. Wael Zatar, dean of the College of Information Technology and Engineering, said he is proud of Smith.
“Thomas is a nontraditional student who is an excellent role model. He has displayed persistence by coming back to the college and studied hard, excelled in his classes and has been an outstanding student,” Zatar said. “His commitment to his studies has allowed him to be the recipient of this prestigious award by the committee. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
“Marshall University has been the home for critical thinkers, which helps students reach and achieve different heights by the time they graduate from CITE. We have hands on experience and pay a lot of attention to our students. The faculty spend a great amount of one-on-one time with their students, which helps prepares them for future employment. By the time our students graduate, they are well prepared for the workforce. We are very proud of our students and graduates of the college.”