Charleston – The Citadel has announced that Raytheon Company, a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world, has established the Raytheon Scholars program with a $500,000 gift to The Citadel Foundation.

Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson, right, appears with Citadel President Lt Gen John W. Rosa upon announcing Raytheon's gift at The Citadel Principled Leadership Symposium.

This endowed fund will provide scholarship resources to encourage female and minority students to study engineering, mathematics, and science at The Citadel.  Four Raytheon Scholarships will be awarded annually to eligible cadets to promote diversity in these fields.

Visiting campus as a keynote speaker for the inaugural Citadel Principled Leadership Symposium, Raytheon Chairman and CEO William H. Swanson addressed the South Carolina Corps of Cadets and student delegates from senior military colleges and other colleges in the region, as well as delivering remarks to students and faculty in The Citadel’s electrical and computer engineering and science and mathematics areas.

Announcing this generous, long-term partnership, Swanson remarked, “The Citadel and Raytheon both have strong values to guide them, values such as academics, duty, honor, morality and discipline for The Citadel—and people, integrity, commitment and excellence for Raytheon. In addition, one of our shared values is diversity.”

He said diversity is key because “we must be able to draw on the largest pool of wonderful talent to meet the engineering and scientific needs of our company and our nation.” He also noted that Raytheon, as a technology company, depends on innovation to support the needs of servicemen and women and other customers—and that the company believes “innovation thrives on diverse perspectives.”

“This generous gift is an important addition to our financial war chest,” said Colonel John Peeples, chair of The Citadel's electrical and computer engineering department.  “Once or twice each year, I see a gifted, capable student who has to leave the program or the institution for financial reasons.  Raytheon's significant gift will enable us to recruit and retain gifted young women and minority students, and train them to enter these fields.”

For more information:    Jarret Sonta
                                  (843) 953-6919
                                  jarret.sonta@citadel.edu