Ronnie and Elaine S. Plotkin’s son Raymond, a healthy 18-year old UNM freshman nuclear engineering student from Houston, Texas, contracted the H1N1 flu virus and died in November of 2009. With a generous initial gift the Plotkin family established the Raymond E. Plotkin Scholarship in the UNM School of Engineering and encouraged family and friends to contribute as well. Through their efforts, they raised enough to create an endowed scholarship to provide future engineering students with assistance in reaching their scholastic potential. “We have worked hard to turn our grief into some positive--to make lemonade out of seemingly rotten fruit,” stated Raymond’s mother, Elaine.
Scholarship recipients are selected by the Plotkin family and must be an entering freshman in engineering with a minimum 3.0 GPA and write a short essay describing their personality and sense of humor. The first scholarship was awarded this fall to Sean Chavez, a computer engineering major from Albuquerque. The family continues to promote gifts to the scholarship fund so that even larger awards can be given in future years.
Donations to the fund can be made by sending a check payable to "UNM Foundation,"
memo "Raymond Plotkin Scholarship" to:
UNM School of Engineering
Attn: Courtney Ganstine
MSC01 1140
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
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