Bryn Mawr resident Charles N. “Charlie” Marshall recently donated $600,000 to the Rail Transportation Engineering (RTE) degree program at Penn State Altoona, the nation’s only bachelor of science degree in rail transportation engineering.
RTE is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
A total of $100,000 was used to create the Penn State Altoona Rail Transportation Engineering Enhancement Endowment while $500,000 was used to create the Donnell Marshall Excellence Scholarship for Rail Transportation Engineering Students.
The endowment will provide funding for RTE’s recruitment, retention and marketing, including outreach programs, summer camps and digital media advertising.
The scholarship is named after Marshall’s father and will support students who major or plan to major in RTE and who have great financial need. The donation was matched by the First-Time Endowed Scholarship Donor Matching Program, the university’s current fundraising campaign.
“Our RTE program is on the verge of making another leap in its growth. Charlie’s gifts will tremendously help us realize our vision for RTE recruitment and retention,” said Jungwoo Ryoo, head of the Division of Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences and Technology and professor of information sciences and technology. “We are especially thrilled to use the scholarship and enhancement funds to recruit our next generation of railroad engineers. Through my interactions with industry representatives, I understand that having a significant infusion of new railroad engineers is a top priority, and Charlie’s contributions to our RTE program will enable us to help meet this dire workforce need.”
Marshall is a founding member of Penn State Altoona’s RTE Industry Advisory Board and helped implement the RTE degree program. Marshall retired as vice chairman of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 2006, where he previously served as president and chief operating officer. He also had previously worked in various high-level positions at Conrail, including senior vice president of development.