Thomas Dieker was named the first recipient of the Mel Hambelton Endowed Scholarship today (Thursday, Aug. 9) at Wichita State University. He will receive a $2,500 scholarship annually for a total of $10,000 for four years.

Dieker is a graduate of Trinity Academy in Wichita and will be a freshman at Wichita State. He plans to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering, with a goal of becoming a test pilot for one of the aircraft producers in Wichita.

While in high school, Dieker participated in sports and drama, took a mission trip to Puerto Rico and was a crew leader for Numana, packing food for Third World countries.

Giving back

Mel Hambelton has been a part of the Wichita auto industry for more than 40 years. Giving back to and staying involved with the Wichita community and surrounding area was always important to him, as was a college education. It was one thing he never achieved, but always regretted.

After taking over Mel Hambelton Ford Inc. in 2008, his daughter Lisa Hambelton has continued to give back to the community. She decided to set up a scholarship at Wichita State University in his name to continue his charitable ways for a cause that was very close to his heart – education.

The new scholarship was endowed with a $200,000 gift. Scholarships will be awarded annually to students enrolled full time at WSU. Recipients must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average. The scholarship will be awarded annually to an incoming freshman and will result in a total of four recipients each year, one freshman, one sophomore, one junior and one senior.

For consideration, graduating high school seniors must submit a Freshman General Scholarship application to the WSU Scholarship Office by Feb. 1.

Recipients will have demonstrated commitment to their community and extra-curricular school activities.

The selection of recipients will be completed in conjunction with a representative of Mel Hambelton Ford. The Scholarship Office will identify three potential recipients and make the final selection with the Mel Hambelton representative.