Engineering for Success

Ron Bartos '79, who majored in civil engineering at UMass School of Engineering, credits his time at UMass Amherst with providing him "a sound foundation to solve technical problems in industry." Ron went on to earn an M.S.
in industrial engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

"Many engineers find that after they graduate, they do not always continue in their exact engineering discipline but find that the practice of engineering is applied to all types of technical development," Ron says. He currently serves as an engineering fellow in systems engineering at Raytheon, specializing in system safety.

Ron's wife, Janet Lee O'Leary, graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1984 with a B.S. in chemical engineering and is currently a research director in Procter & Gamble's Gillette razors and shaving products business. They live in Ashland, Massachusetts. Ron and Janet have been supporting the UMass Amherst engineering program for close to three decades with ongoing current gifts and establishing the Bartos Endowment Fund, providing support for undergraduate students in the College of Engineering.

Wanting their impact to go further, they recently established a gift in their estate plan that will provide future additional assets for the Bartos Endowment Fund.

"My parents both grew up on farms in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, but they understood the importance of education and encouraged us to pursue learning," Ron says. "I was fortunate to be awarded a scholarship that covered my four years of tuition at the UMass College of Engineering. The purpose of my family's endowment is to give back and stimulate young adults from rural Franklin County to pursue their engineering dreams."

Invest in Tomorrow's Leaders

With your support, we can ensure that more students will have access to an affordable, high-quality education at UMass Amherst for years to come. Contact Joseph K. Jayne ’21MPP at 413-577-1418 or giftplanning@uma-foundation.org to explore smart ways to give.