In honor of its 100th anniversary, IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) has launched the IMA Century Student Scholarship Fund, to help ensure that every student who pursues excellence in their studies and aspires to achieve a management accounting career can do so, regardless of their financial background.
This special initiative was announced during the IMA Annual Conference & Expo in Indianapolis last month, and members are being asked to contribute $100 – or any amount, no matter how small – to give critical financial support to motivated college students in need of assistance. Helping to provide the initial funding for the program is long-time volunteer leader Ron Luther, CMA, CPA, an IMA member for more than 40 years as well as a former Global Board member and chapter and council officer.
Luther got the idea to help fund such a program about a year ago, when he was seeking to decide what to do with his personal estate. He considered many options, but IMA and students were an obvious combination.
“IMA has always meant so much to me, and I’ve also always had a strong interest in supporting students,” he says. “I’m from a very modest middle-class background, yet I was fortunate to be the first person in my family to attend college and earn a post-graduate degree. It was thanks to scholarships and the financial support of others that I was able to do that. I want to give others that same opportunity, because I know that my education made a profound difference in the doors that were opened to me.”
Luther attended DePauw University in the late 1960s, earning his BA in Mathematics. He later earned his MBA, with a concentration in Accounting, from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. For nearly 32 years, he worked as a financial executive at Cummins Inc., from which he retired in 2008.
At the Conference, members were invited to view an inspiring video, now available on YouTube, describing the program and its significance as part of IMA’s 100-year Anniversary celebration.
Visit the ima100years.org website for information on how to donate a gift of $100 – or any amount – for tomorrow’s students. Members can also mail contributions to: Institute of Management Accountants, Attn: IMA Century Student Scholarship Fund, 10 Paragon Drive, Suite 1, Montvale, NJ 07645. Note: All contributions are tax deductible.
Says Luther, “I encourage all IMA members who are able to join me in making a contribution to this scholarship fund. The cost of college is astronomical these days, and financial support like this can make a profound difference in the lives of students. These are the future leaders of the profession – and the future leaders of IMA.”
For more information, please visit http://ima100years.org/contribute/.