SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 20, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The GenCorp Foundation, serving as the philanthropic arm of Aerojet, announced today that it distributed $604,345 in grants, scholarships and matching gifts in 12 communities across the United States this year.
"We focus on STEM education with the goal of encouraging young people to look at future careers in engineering and technology," said Chris Conley, president of the GenCorp Foundation. "Our nation's future is dependent upon growing a technology-based workforce. Aerojet and other aerospace companies still need 'rocket scientists' as well as chemists, engineers and information technology professionals."
The GenCorp Foundation supports communities where the company has a business presence, including Huntsville, Ala.; Camden, Ark.; Sacramento, Vernon and Woodland Hills, Calif.; Socorro, N.M.; Jonesborough, Tenn.; Clearfield, Utah; Gainesville and Orange, Va.; Redmond, Wash.; and Washington, D.C.
In 2012, 88 percent of GenCorp's funding was directed to education, including grants to Aviation High School and the Museum of Flight in Seattle; Northern Virginia Community College and Virginia Tech; Southern Arkansas University and the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts; The Discovery Museum and KVIE Public Television in Sacramento.
The GenCorp Foundation is the philanthropic arm of GenCorp, the parent company of Sacramento-based Aerojet. The GenCorp Foundation focuses its giving on education, especially in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Since 2000, the foundation has contributed more than $9 million throughout those communities. Visit the GenCorp Foundation's Decade in Review Report.
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GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale and leasing of the Company's excess real estate assets. Aerojet, a GenCorp company, is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense, strategic, tactical missile and armaments areas in support of domestic and international markets. Aerojet has been a major employer in Sacramento since the 1950s.
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