By Alexis Timko
The newly created Dr. Dan and Patty Suchora Scholarship was awarded to Hannah Reynolds, senior swimmer, for the fall 2016 semester.
Dan and Patty Suchora created the scholarship to enhance the Youngstown State University Athletics Scholarship Endowment Fund. Dan Suchora, a retired professor and chair of the mechanical and industrial engineering department, has been a long-time fan of YSU athletics.
Both Suchora and his wife attended YSU in 1963. Dan Suchora graduated with a bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering, and Patty Suchora graduated from the YSU School of Business with a degree in accounting.
“This scholarship allows the Suchora family to show our appreciation for what YSU has done for our family and to pay it forward,” Dan Suchora said.
Dan Kopp, development officer for YSU Foundation, explained that the donors of the scholarship are allowed to set the criteria when they establish the scholarships. They prefer a mechanical engineering student, because that’s what Dan Suchora taught at YSU.
“Suchora and his wife wanted a student athlete majoring in either STEM or business,” Kopp said. “We expect them to fit that role and represent the university well as a student athlete, however the scholarship is not sports specific.”
Students were required to maintain a minimum GPA of 2.75, as well as being a student athlete.
Reynolds is a mechanical engineering student. Her two top-10 career finishes at the Horizon League Championships are a couple things that made her stand out as a candidate. She is also the record holder in the 100-yard breaststroke and maintains a 3.55 GPA.
“I can’t tell you how excited I was when I found out Dan Suchora and his wife made an endowment scholarship that would be sponsoring me,” Reynolds said. “I called my mom right away to tell her one of my favorite professors had created an endowment for athletics, and I was the chosen recipient.”
Reynolds explained that she decided to go into mechanical engineering because of her grandfather, who was a naval engineer. She said Dan Suchora was a major influence in her engineering career.
“He demanded perfection and continuous improvement in all aspects of his class and lab,” she said. “I improved academically by leaps and bounds my junior year, and he prepared me and my peers for what real life engineering will be like.”
In the spring Reynolds plans on taking the fundamentals of engineering exam, and then the professional engineering exam to become a licensed engineer.
She hopes to get her M.B.A. as soon as she can and begin working in a manufacturing environment and be a process, manufacturing, quality or design engineer.
Reynolds explained that receiving this scholarship will make it financially possible for her to stay a collegiate athlete while allowing her to achieve a desirable GPA in mechanical engineering.
“I thanked Dan Suchora and his wife for investing in me not only as an athlete, but also for investing time and effort to further me as an engineer,” she said.
