Every Reason to Give

John Fenn is neither a Ferris alumnus nor a typical Ferris donor. His reasons for giving are many, and all are powerful.

John is the retired president of Fenn and Associates Surveying, Inc., a Shelby Township firm he founded in 1978. He was named Surveyor of the Year in 1998 by the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors (MSPS), served as president of the National Society of Professional Surveyors in 2003 and received his Honorary Doctorate in Science and Engineering from Ferris State University in 2007. He also recently concluded his term as a director on The Ferris Foundation Board.

John first came to Ferris in the early 1990s, joining the advisory board for the Ferris Surveying Engineering program at the urging of Ferris Professor Emeritus Sayed Hashimi. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife Lynda, who passed away in 2016, began donating $1,500 a year in scholarship funds to support Ferris students in their studies. It wasn’t until Lynda accompanied John to a Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors meeting that it occurred to John he might want to give more.

“My wife came with me to the state meeting and was talking with Dr. (Khagendra) Thapa, who mentioned that my company had been giving scholarships,” says John. “Lynda asked how much, and he told her $1,500. She turned to me and said, ‘Kinda cheap, aren’t ya?’”

John promptly increased his yearly scholarship contribution to $2,500, and Lynda took a more active role in the cause, supporting an annual student auction fundraiser to the tune of thousands of dollars each year.

When that still wasn’t enough for the Fenns, they approached Professor Hashimi with the idea of endowing a scholarship. After thanking them, he suggested they consider endowing a laboratory instead, donating funds to keep the facility supplied with the latest surveying equipment and technology. The idea was a perfect fit, and in 2005 the John R. and Lynda D. Fenn Digital Photogrammetry and GIS Endowed Laboratory was dedicated. “It’s a way to touch all the students in the program, because every surveying student will pass through that lab and benefit from it,” John says.

John is passionate about supporting Ferris students and is a champion for sharing his joy of giving to any and all who will listen. “Our students need our support now more than ever,” he says. “Whether it’s a modest gift, a large gift or even a piece of equipment that students can use, I hope alumni and friends of Ferris will reach out to The Ferris Foundation to learn more about how they can make their own impact because every gift matters.”

As John considers the planned gift commitment he made in 2018 to support his scholarship endowment, one central theme emerges. “My support of students comes through a love of the profession. I can’t think of any better way of leaving a lasting legacy than being a part of a young person’s success, and—I don’t know, I just love it.”

Any reason is a good reason to make the world better.

If there is one key gesture that spells investment in the education of deserving Ferris students, it’s endowing a scholarship so recipients benefit far into the future. Contact The Ferris Foundation at (231) 591-2365 or FerrisFoundation@ferris.edu to learn how you could make an impact similar to John Fenn’s.