The Dr. Frederick A. Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund

The gifts to the Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund were placed into a University of Nevada, Reno Foundation endowment account which will be kept separate from other endowment funds for bookkeeping purposes. The account was entered on the books and records of University of Nevada, Reno Foundation as the "Dr. Frederick A. Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund" and it shall always be so designated. For investment purposes, the assets of the Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund may be merged with other endowment assets of the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation and invested as other endowment funds of the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation are invested, and the Foundation will be free to invest and reinvest the gifts in real, personal, or mixed property, and in such a manner that appears to the Board of the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation to be in the best interest of the University. However, the Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund endowment principal from gifts shall always remain inviolate and only the investment income (which includes interest income, rents, cash dividends, stock dividends, and appreciation) shall be available for spending.

The Board of the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation will award all of the investment income spendable payout money generated by the Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund as one Steinmann Scholarship Award each year. Currently, the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation's normal spendable payout rate annually is 4.50% on a 3-year rolling average of the market value of the endowment principal, as calculated as of June 30 each year, for allocation for spending the following July 1 (the beginning of the University of Nevada, Reno's fiscal year). The spendable payout of the Steinmann Scholarship award will be approximately 4.50% x $100,000 = $4,500 per year. If the Steinmann Scholarship money is not awarded, in whole or in part, for some reason, that money not awarded shall be returned to the endowment fund so that the endowment fund can grow.

A student is eligible to receive a Steinmann Scholarship award who a) is enrolled in University of Nevada, Reno as a full-time undergraduate student majoring in business; b) has financial aid need according to the usual policies and practices of the University; c) is a citizen or a legal resident of the United States; and d) has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Dr. Steinmann requested that the Steinmann Scholarship be awarded to a different student each year, so it is likely that that student scholarship awardee will be a student who is beginning his or her senior year in the University's College of Business.

In addition to this website entry, Sterling and Frederick have created a Handout which describes the Steinmann Scholarship Fund which will be handed to and emailed to the Steinmann Scholarship Awardee each year.  Also, a Wall Plaque describing the Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund has been hung in the Dean’s Office at the UNR College of Business.

Frederick Steinmann was born in 1978 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and grew up in Morinville, Alberta, Canada. He moved to Reno, Nevada with his family in 1991. He earned his B.S. in Economics in 2002, and his M.S. in Economics in 2004 at the University of Nevada, Reno. He had applied to and was accepted into the Ph.D. program in Economics at the University of Oregon, starting in fall, 2005, but he decided to defer his enrollment in order to work for a few years for the City of Reno's Redevelopment Agency and then for the Nevada Small Business Development Center. As a result, he became very interested in local government and economic development.

Frederick’s father, Michael G. Steinmann, began his Ph.D. program at the University of Southern California State (USC) Capital Center in Sacramento in the fall of 1997, at age 51. He was fortunate to take several courses from Prof. Chester A. “Chet” Newland, including seminars in Public Administration, Administrative Theory, Organizational Behavior, Public Management, Public Policy, Operations Management, and Research Methods. In 1999, after he had completed his doctoral coursework at USC, he began writing his doctoral dissertation, with Dr. Newland serving as his Advisor and Committee Chair. Unfortunately, he suffered a severe heart attack the day after Thanksgiving, 1999. The heart attack nearly killed him, left him comatose for about a month, and threatened to end his lifelong ambition to earn his Ph.D. Thankfully, he awakened from his coma on Christmas Day, 1999. Thereafter, he gradually began to recover from his heart attack and coma, but he thought that completing his Ph.D. was not possible. However, Dr. Newland had faith in Michael, and he encouraged Michael to continue to work on his dissertation. Despite the demands of his physical recovery, Michael worked closely with Dr. Newland over the next four years and nine months to complete his dissertation, titled “Alberta’s Economic Development of the Athabasca Oil Sands,” and he successfully defended it to his Doctoral Committee on October 8, 2004. In May, 2005, Michael Steinmann received his doctoral diploma from Dr. Newland at the Graduation ceremony at the USC State Capital Center in Sacramento. It was a great day for the Steinmann family. They were ecstatic when they saw Michael finally clutching his diploma with a big smile on his face.

It was a fortuitous day for Frederick, too, because he noticed the listing of a "Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development" degree in the written Graduation program, and he decided to explore the possibility of pursuing his own doctorate at USC. After speaking with his father, with Professor Newland, and with other faculty members and staff at the USC State Capital Center, Frederick withdrew from the Ph.D. in Economics program at the University of Oregon and began his DPPD program at USC in the fall of 2008.

Frederick was fortunate to have Dr. Chester Newland as the professor in his first course in his first semester at USC, "Cross-Sectoral Governance." Dr. Newland had been a mentor to Frederick's father, Michael, and he became a mentor to Frederick, too. (In fact, both Michael and Frederick Steinmann were students of Dr. Newland at USC and each of them had the pleasure of having Dr. Newland as his Doctoral Advisor and Doctoral Committee Chair.) After Frederick completed his required doctoral coursework, he began work on his doctoral dissertation. During the year in which Frederick wrote his dissertation, Dr. Newland fulfilled his duties as Committee Chair and Doctoral Advisor with the expertise many doctoral students before Frederick, including Michael Steinmann, had come to expect of him. 

In July, 2009, just as Frederick had finished writing the first half of his dissertation, his father, Michael, suffered his second major heart attack. Sadly, Michael did not survive this one, passing away on July 18, 2009. Frederick was devastated. In so many ways, his father had served as the second advisor on his dissertation. He had helped Frederick to understand the process of writing a dissertation and to anticipate the high standards Dr. Newland set for his doctoral students. At Dr. Michael Steinmann's funeral, Dr. Newland spoke about Michael's hard work, his determination to complete his Ph.D., and his tremendous scholarly ability. His words helped to encourage Frederick and gave him the strength he needed to carry on with writing his doctoral dissertation. Thanks to Dr. Newland’s encouragement, Frederick steeled himself, and got back to work. 

As both a student in one of Dr. Newland's classes and as one of his doctoral students, Frederick learned much more than a list of theories and approaches to the administration of government. Frederick says he is a better scholar, a better professional, and a better person because he was fortunate to have Dr. Newland as his mentor. Frederick says the most important lessons he learned from Dr. Newland were an appreciation for the rule of law, a deep respect for human dignity, an appreciation for reasonableness, and the importance of humility in all the work Frederick does. Dr. Newland taught Frederick the value of speaking truth to power. As a professional, Dr. Newland said, one has to be willing to stand up to power and speak the truth, even if that means that one may have to resign or face being fired. But, with reasonableness being an important criterion in decision-making, one must always think hard about the circumstances and whether or not it is reasonable for one to fight for a particular piece of policy or legislation, given other possible goals.

With Dr. Newland's encouragement, Frederick completed his 658-page doctoral dissertation titled, "The Twilight of the Local Redevelopment Era: The Past, Present, and Future of Urban Revitalization and Urban Economic Development in Nevada and California," and he received his doctoral degree in Policy, Planning, and Development from the University of Southern California in May, 2010.

A copy of Dr. Steinmann’s dissertation can be requested by emailing Dr. Steinmann directly, at fred@unr.edu.

His areas of study included economic development, public policy, public finance, and real estate development. Frederick felt fortunate to receive financial aid in 2008 via the William A. Carlson Fellowship from the California Redevelopment Association, so he is particularly pleased that the Dr. Frederick A. Steinmann Scholarship will provide financial help for a UNR College of Business student each year.

Frederick is currently an Assistant Research Professor and Leadership and Economic Development Specialist in the Department of Economics/University Center for Economic Development, and Director of the Nevada Leadership Program in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. He began his professional economic development career with the Reno Redevelopment Agency in the City of Reno, Nevada. Since then, he has worked for the Nevada Small Business Development Center, Bureau of Business and Economic Research, and for the Carson Economic Development Services Department in the City of Carson, California. Frederick has also worked as a Senior Associate for David Paul Rosen & Associates, one of the elite economic development and public policy consulting firms in California. He is currently a member of the International Economic Development Council, the American Society for Public Administration, and the American Planning Association.

Sterling Franklin earned his B.A. in Political Science at Stanford in 1968. He gained his teaching credential from USC in 1969 and taught at Morningside High School in Inglewood, California from 1970 to 1972, gaining his MSEd. in 1970 from USC. He then attended Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) and received his JD in 1975. He received his MPA in Public Administration from USC in 1976. He has worked for several non-profit organizations and has practiced. He has been a Trustee of the Morris S. Smith Foundation since the Foundation was established in 1993. Sterling was a personal friend of Morris Smith. Sterling met Frederick Steinmann at Frederick's doctoral graduation ceremony at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (now the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy) State Capital Center in Sacramento in May, 2010, and they became friends.

To make a donation to the Dr. Frederick A. Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund, visit our online donation page. 

Click on the box at the lower left that says “Give to Nevada” and then, using the search bar at the top right of the next page, type “Steinmann” and then click on the “Dr. Frederick A. Steinmann Scholarship Endowment” link.  Then fill in the amount you want to donate, click on “Add to Cart”, fill in the requested donor information, and then click on “Check Out”. Once your gift has been processed by the UNR computer system, a receipt for your tax deductible gift will be emailed to you automatically, soon.

Or, please send a check made out to "UNR Foundation-Steinmann Scholarship Endowment Fund" to:

Executive Director of Development
University of Nevada, Reno
Morrill Hall Ground Floor #10
1664 N. Virginia Street
Mail Stop 0007
Reno, NV 89557-0007

If you have questions, please email Zack Madonick, Director of Development for the UNR College of Business, or call (775) 682-6041.

For more information about the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation, visit the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation's website.

Spring 2018 Awardee:  Janelle M. Tayam, Class of 2019

Mr. Sterling Franklin (Trustee, Morris S. Smith Foundation), Ms. Janelle Tayam (Spring 2019 Awardee), Dr. Frederick Steinmann (Assistant Research Professor, The College of Business) 

Janelle M. Tayam, Class of 2019, was an Accounting Major and a Computer Science and Engineering Minor. At UNR, she was actively involved as a member of the Zeta Iota chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, the honorary accounting society, dedicating at least 20 hours each semester to professional and community service activities. She helped in the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in 2018, where she provided free tax preparation services to low-income people. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in May, 2019, and she passed all four parts of her CPA exam. She is working as a tax consultant at Deloitte in Las Vegas, where she hopes to combine her knowledge of accounting, computer science, and engineering to provide outstanding services to clients.

Spring 2019 Awardee: Isabelle F. Kline, Class of 2020

Dr. Chester Newland (University of Southern California, Ret.), Dr. Gregory Mosier (Dean, The College of Business), Ms. Isabella F. Kline (Spring 2020 Awardee), Mr. Sterling Franklin (Trustee, Morris S. Smith Foundation), and Dr. Frederick Steinmann (Assistant Research Professor, The College of Business) 

Isabella F. Kline, Class of 2020, was a dual major in Finance/ Accounting and Economics. Her grade point average put her in the top 10% of UNR College of Business students, so she was invited to join Beta Gamma Sigma, the scholastic honor society for business students sponsored by the Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). After her graduation in May, 2020, she planned to obtain the Certified Managerial Accountant certification, and to study for and pass the CPA exam, then pursue a career in public accounting for 3-5 years, and then earn her MBA. She wants to become a CFO or a Financial Controller of a major hospital. 

Spring 2020 Awardee:  Alex Pham, Class of 2021

Dr. Chester Newland (University of Southern California, Ret.), Mr. Sterling Franklin (Trustee, Morris S. Smith Foundation), Alex Pham (Spring 2020 Awardee), Dr. Gregory Mosier (Dean, The College of Business), Ms. Simi Raffiee, Dr. Kambiz Raffiee (Associate Dean, The College of Business), and Dr. Frederick Steinmann (Assistant Research Professor, The College of Business).

Alex H. Pham, Class of 2021, is an Information Systems major at UNR. He is actively involved in the Founding Chapter of Lambda Psi Rho Fraternity, which promotes leadership, pride, and respect, which are all traits it has instilled in Alex. He is currently employed at the Asian Community Development Council which is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that offers a variety of services from voter registration to immigration assistance to help promote the engagement of the Asian community in Reno. Alex has a strong desire to better his community and always looks for ways to give back.

Spring 2021 Awardee:  Celso Gonzalez Lopez, Class of 2022

Celso Gonzalez Lopez (Spring 2021 Awardee).

Celso Gonzalez Lopez, Class of 2022, is majoring in Economics. After graduation, he plans on a career in data analytics or market research analysis. He will be the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year university. He is a member of Nu Alpha Kappa, a non-exclusive Latino-based fraternity which values culture, pride, and academics. NAK has helped his academic and personal growth tremendously. One of his goals is to open up his own coffee shop in the Reno area. He discovered his passion for coffee when he traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, and visited many local coffee shops. He loves learning about the intricacies of coffee and he is constantly experimenting by brewing new coffees. He hopes to make his parents proud by opening and succeeding with this small business.