Alumnus Tom Walsh creates Miami scholarship
Tom Walsh (Miami, '82), president and CEO of First Texas Products, has recently made a $250,000 gift to create a Miami University scholarship fund in support of students from Walnut Hills High School.
Walsh, who grew up in Cincinnati and is a graduate of both Walnut Hills and Miami, created the Thomas P. Walsh Alumni Merit Scholarship to support one or more Walnut Hills High School seniors each year who demonstrate high financial need, academic achievement and a strong work ethic—as evidenced by a student’s co-curricular involvement both in and out of school. According to Walsh, he is returning the opportunity he was given as a Miami student.
“I was able to attend Miami on an Alumni Merit Scholarship, and without that generous assistance, my life and career may have turned out quite differently,” Walsh said. “Today’s Miami students deserve that same opportunity to focus on their education. I owe much of my success in business to the high-caliber education I received, so it is fitting to give something back to Miami and Walnut Hills.”
Walsh, who competed in track & field and cross country while at Miami, earned his bachelor's in business administration before going on to earn an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.
“We are grateful to Tom Walsh for empowering more bright, motivated Walnut Hills High School students to attend Miami University through his scholarship,” Ann Larson, Miami University director of admission, said. “From a shared commitment to quality academics and the liberal arts to a focus on diversity, Miami and Walnut Hills enjoy a historically strong relationship. As we experience a steady rise in the number of Walnut Hills seniors applying to Miami, this investment from an alumnus of both institutions only serves to advance this important relationship.”
Walsh is the founder of First Texas Holdings Corporation, which invests in manufacturing companies, leveraging its technical capabilities and distribution networks to provide better products and technologies to the many markets it serves. Products made by First Texas companies are sold under the Fisher Research Labs®, Teknetics®, Bounty Hunter®, Night Owl Optics®, iGen® and Nivisys® brand names. Tom lives in El Paso, Texas, with his wife, Norma, and their three children, Liam, Rafael and Evin.
“Miami gave me a great all-around education and the opportunity to develop academically and socially,” Walsh said. “I’ve had the opportunity to encounter many bright people with degrees from the best colleges and universities in the world; the knowledge and perspective I gained at Miami rival any of them.”
Walsh’s gift supports the Miami University campaign For Love and Honor, which last month surpassed its $500 million campaign goal and is set to end on Dec. 31. To date, the campaign—the most successful in Miami history—has raised more than $120 million in scholarship support and resulted in the creation of nearly 600 new scholarship endowments.
Story courtesy of Miami University advancement
