History

The Besal Fund was established in 1983 as a nonprofit endowed fund in tribute to the leadership of, and to honor the memory of the late Robert J. Besal who served as a Vice President for Lithonia Lighting, an Acuity Brands company. The Robert J. Besal Memorial Education Fund is a trust established to provide a continuing program to improve education in illuminating engineering. Through a specific process, it offers scholarships to university students studying Illumination or Lighting.

The Besal Fund aspires to encourage talented and committed students to pursue a career in the lighting industry with financial support to help .

1984 - The first recipient of Besal Fund scholarships was the University of Kansas (KU).

1986 - Kansas University and Penn State University received accreditation to award Besal Fund scholarships.

1987 - Following the death of Lithonia Lighting Vice President Mickey Woods, the M. A. Woods Scholar of the Year contest was established in 1988 to honor the late Mickey Woods in association with the Besal Fund.

1990's - In the early '90s, students at the University of Colorado/Boulder(CU), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(RPI), and Kansas State(KSU) were added as recipients of the Fund’s scholarships.

2008 - The Besal Fund will be celebrated its 25th anniversary.  During the past 25 years, the Besal Fund has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to students at accredited schools throughout the United States.