Funding for students of German: The Thomas Stutzman Scholarship
In honor of their deceased son, Mr. and Mrs. Stutzman set up a charitable trust to provide $50,000 per year in support of German Studies at SCU. It offers tuition assistance of up to $5,000 to students who pursue German beyond the elementary level.
Mr. Stutzman is a retired lawyer, SCU alum and a passionate lifelong learner. After a successful career as a family lawyer and years of travel to clients in Germany and Japan, he resumed his study of German in early 2021 at De Anza College with Maike Ahrends. In the fall of 2021 Mr. Stutzman came to SCU, taking another German class from her. Since winter 2022, he has been a student in Prof. Josef Hellebrandt’s intermediate and advanced classes always offering valuable insights to course topics. After class, we often talk about related areas such as language learning resources, heritage schools in the Bay Area and the need to establish connections between German Studies, community organizations and businesses.
The German Studies program is very grateful for Mr. Stutzman's support. We will honor his trust by promoting German language and culture through our teaching, research, and outreach efforts, and by fostering a community of learners that shares his passion for lifelong education. As Mr. Stutzman has shown us, a lawyer’s generosity extends beyond the courtroom, and we are fortunate to have him as a role model for our students.
You can learn more about this important opportunity and the application process on the SCU German Studies web page.
Contact Josef Hellebrandt, Associate Professor (jhellebrandt@scu.edu) for more information.