Georgia-SMACNA is pleased to announce the availability of the Robert
"Bob" Arthur Harris, Sr. Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship fund will be in
the amount of $3,000 per academic year, not to exceed $12,000, for four years
of undergraduate study.
Bob Harris was born in Lavonia, Georgia on April 3, 1925. Bob Harris
joined the United States Army in 1943, and he was truly a war hero. He served
as a Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne during World War II. He received battle
ribbons for his service in the European, African, and Middle Eastern Theatre's.
He received four Bronze Battle Stars and a Purple Heart after being wounded in
Belgium. Bob was honorably discharged from the United States Army as a Staff
Sergeant in 1945. He joined the Local Union No. 85 apprenticeship program in
1946; he graduated as a journeyman sheet metal worker four years later. After
nine years of sheet metal work, he founded BHW Sheet Metal Company. Over the
next forty years, as a result of his innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial spirit,
he created what is today one of the largest, most successful sheet metal
companies in the United States. Bob Harris passed away on March 9, 2001.
The Robert "Bob" Arthur Harris, Sr. Endowed Scholarship is open to students seeking to further their education by attending an accredited four-year university or college. The applicant may pursue any course of study; however, it is hoped that a career in a field related to the sheet metal industry will be considered. Applicants must be dependents of employees of contractors whose place of business is located in the State of Georgia and are signatory to a collective bargaining agreement with Local Union No. 85 and/or dependents of members of Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 85. The SMACNA College of Fellows has sole responsibility for the awarding of scholarships. Applicants can access the application and eligibility requirements online. Only typed or electronically generated applications will be accepted. The application must be filled out in its entirety. Failure to do so will result in immediate disqualification. Applications must be submitted by February 28, 2023. The application can be mailed to the SMACNA College of Fellows at the address on the application.