Two Scholarships Provide Global Experiences
“I love to fly,” says Brooks Mancini, ’64 Marketing. The hobby pilot, who once dreamed of being a Naval pilot, has logged most of his hours in an A36 Bonanza, a single-engine, retractable gear aircraft. “You get up there and everything seems so small down below. Your problems sort of melt away.” Even a harrowing tale of fuel shortage high above the dusty hills of Southern California is told with endearment: “It was a beautiful moonlit night,” he began, “I can still remember it.”
“Studying abroad maintains my priorities while supporting a dream. Financially, I have been preparing for this adventure for years, and this scholarship has provided me with tremendous relief. It means the world to me.”—Tiffany Voung, ’16 Industrial and Systems Engineering
Despite his hours in the air, Mancini didn’t start traveling internationally until his 50s. Most of his flying time was spent zigzagging back and forth across the country as he developed his successful contracting company, B.T. Mancini Company, Inc.—which he acquired and began running the same year he graduated from San Jose State.
Ironically, perhaps, a gift that he and his wife Diane made to San Jose State helps send Spartans abroad, giving them international experiences much earlier than Mancini had them. Every year, more than 60 students travel to places like Austria, Korea, Italy and the United Kingdom thanks to the Mancinis’ support of the Salzburg Scholarship and the Study Abroad Scholarship in the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business. Mancini’s commitment to future generations is clear. He sold his contracting company nine years ago to his son, who, says Mancini, “has truly taken the business to new heights.” And, while Mancini may have retired from flying, he continues to lift up SJSU students.
The Salzburg Scholars Program and the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business Study Abroad Scholarship are part of San Jose State’s efforts to globalize the university. The Mancini family is the sole supporter of the Salzburg Scholars, and one of several donors supporting the Study Abroad Scholarship.