Valparaiso University Alumni Fund Endowed Scholarships

Valparaiso University alumni Julie Tiede ’96 Winkler and Jason Winkler ’96 have generously committed $500,000 to fund endowed scholarships for students in the College of Business and College of Engineering. Their gift will be divided between the newly established Julie and Jason Winkler Endowed Scholarship for the College of Business and the existing Duane D. Tiede Engineering Endowed Scholarship, an endowed scholarship they created in 2010 to honor Julie’s father.

“The education that Valparaiso University provided Jason and me served as a critical foundation in our lives and we are pleased to provide financial support for these scholarships,” Julie said. “We both graduated from the College of Business, and the College of Engineering scholarship is one way to recognize my father as a life-long engineer. Through these permanent funds, we hope that our scholarship support will be a catalyst to create more Valpo graduates as leaders in business and engineering.”

Julie and Jason have remained engaged with Valpo since graduating and currently serve as co-chairs of the Valpo Fund. Both have been involved with the Valpo Admissions Network and have served on the National Business Council of the College of Business. Julie is on the Forever Valpo: The Campaign for Our Future Executive Committee and has been on the University’s Board of Directors since 2013. Jason was recently appointed to the Presidential Council of Advisors.

They both earned their bachelor of science in business administration from the College of Business. Julie’s concentration was in finance, while Jason pursued concentrations in business administration and political science.

“Valpo is a special place for us,” Jason said. “We both were awarded scholarships as undergraduate business students, which were made possible by the generosity of alumni. We remain thankful for that opportunity and wanted to help future students in the same manner.”

Valpo’s College of Business is accredited by AACSB International — The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, placing it among the elite 5 percent of business schools worldwide to receive this recognition. The College of Engineering is ranked No. 13 among bachelor’s and master’s engineering programs nationally by the U.S. News & World Report 2017 Best Colleges.

“Julie and Jason have been actively involved since the day they entered Valpo as incoming students and continue to do so much for the University,” said Mark A. Heckler, Ph.D., president of Valparaiso University. “Their ongoing support of the engineering scholarship fund and the newly established fund for business students exemplifies their deep and abiding commitment to Valpo’s future.”

The Winklers’ commitment supports Forever Valpo: The Campaign for Our Future, a $250 million endowment campaign that will secure permanent resources for student scholarships, faculty development and programs that prepare students for lives of leadership and service. The Campaign was officially launched on Sept. 23, 2016, and has raised more than $157 million.