Santander Consumer USA Inc. (“Santander Consumer”) and the Santander Consumer USA Inc. Foundation (“SC Foundation”) today announced $500,000 in grants and sponsorships to support higher education for students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at The University of Texas at Austin (“UT Austin”), The University of Texas at Dallas (“UT Dallas”), and scholarships for support of technicians in the automotive field via the Driven to Care Fund of the Footprints Foundation.
Santander Consumer’s continued company commitment to higher education for students in STEM aligns with a larger ambition held by Scuderia Ferrari, Formula 1 and Banco Santander as a global group to develop and foster talent through learning that creates innovation and exceptional engineering.
Leclerc’s visit ahead of the Formula 1 Lenovo United States Grand Prix 2023 in Austin has been a source of inspiration to push the program forward with top talent.
“We are thrilled to announce our new STEM grants, as part of our ongoing work to educate and inspire the next generation of engineering leaders, alongside our partners at Scuderia Ferrari. This commitment further advances our mission to help people and businesses prosper.”
Bruce Jackson
Santander Consumer USA CEO
Through its latest charitable efforts, the SC Foundation has established the Santander Scholarship for Engineering and Computer Science for the support of three undergraduate students in the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin as well as three undergraduate students in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Dallas.
In addition, Santander Consumer will become a title sponsor of the Longhorn Racing team at UT Austin, a student-led design organization from The University of Texas at Austin, with teams competing in various types of Formula cars including solar and electric vehicles. The student team will use the funds to aid in the engineering, manufacturing, and validation processes to turn their designs into reality.
“The Cockrell School is grateful for Santander Consumer’s investment in student success,” said Dr. Roger Bonnecaze, Dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering. “Experiential learning opportunities like Longhorn Racing prepare our students to become leaders on campus and in the workforce, cultivating bold engineers who embrace and solve messy, open-ended problems. Longhorn Racing students lead the way in multidisciplinary collaboration on campus, working in teams across engineering, business and natural sciences—teams that aim to win.”
“Santander Consumer and the SC Foundation are the type of Dallas neighbors who make the entire community better,” said Dr. Stephanie G. Adams, Dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair at UT Dallas and professor of systems engineering. “Engineering is central to the mission of UT Dallas and society at large as we prepare students to address critical societal challenges.”
The SC Foundation also made a grant to The John Weinberger Driven to Care Legacy Scholarships, which supports the development of new skills in technology, engineering, and management for students of need pursuing a career in the automotive field.
“Supporting students who, like my husband, want to turn their passion into a career takes strong partnerships,” said Lisa Weinberger, President, John Weinberger Driven to Care Legacy Scholarships. “It’s a privilege to have the generous support of the SC Foundation which will help aspiring automotive professionals achieve their goals.”
With today’s announcement, the SC Foundation’s contributions to STEM-related organizations and initiatives have surpassed $15 million since 2021.
Banco Santander and Formula 1 have a long-standing relationship with the bank as a partner of the sport from 2007 to 2017. It is now again an official sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari, having signed a new alliance in 2022 that includes a range of solutions to support Scuderia Ferrari’s plans to go carbon neutral by 2030.