ATA Names Winner of First Scholarship Award

Jason Malufau, the son of American Trucking Associations employee Toni Malufau, is the recipient of the first ATA Scholarship Fund award, a $4,000 grant for college expenses.

The fund was established last year by then-ATA president Thomas J. Donohue and his family in support of the organization’s employees and their families.

Mr. Malufau’s mother is an administrative clerk in the ATA Graphic and Printing Services Department. She has been with the association since 1989.

Mr. Malufau is a sophomore in the business administration program at Northern Virginia Community College and plans to transfer to a four-year college next year to pursue a degree in health care administration.

He holds two part-time jobs and pays for all his own college costs, a fact that particularly impressed the selection committee. He said he wanted to be independent and did not want to burden his family with the expense. His father earlier had suggested that the family pay for college, but he said he preferred to do as his parents had done when they were young, and make his way by himself.

A 1997 graduate of Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Va., Mr. Malufau initially wanted to become a journalist, but working part-time in a health care organization changed his mind.

Applicants for the scholarship had to submit their transcripts, three recommendations and a short essay explaining their need for the award.

They were screened by a selection committee and by Mr. Donohue and his family. Four finalists were chosen. As a finalist, Mr. Malufau was contacted by ATA human resources personnel and asked to answer three questions. Shortly afterward, he received notice of his selection.

“I got it! I did it on my own!” Mr. Malufau’s mother quoted him as saying when he read the letter.

he scholarship is open to high school students who are children of employees of ATA, state associations and ATA conference members whose positions are below the level of executive director.

For additional information, contact the ATA Human Resources Department, Alexandria, Va., 703-838-1726.