The George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation Scholarship

Criteria: (Ten $1,000 Awards) The George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation Scholarship will be awarded to students with financial need. First preference will be given to students who have participated in programs offered by the Latino Education Institute at Worcester State University. Second preference will be given to Latino/a students. Candidates should provide a short essay attesting to the need for this scholarship and submit it with the scholarship application. It should be noted that this scholarship will not be automatically renewed and applicants are encouraged to reapply each academic year.

George Freeman Fuller and his wife, Sybil Harriet (Flagg) Fuller, were among Worcester’s most prominent citizens. A brilliant inventor and businessman, Mr. Fuller and his wife established a philanthropic trust that has made far-reaching contributions to the citizens of Central Massachusetts.

George Fuller, born in Grafton, Mass., in 1869, was the son of a shoe worker who suffered from poor health as a result of military service in the Civil War. Following his father’s death, eighteen-year-old Fuller assumed responsibility for supporting his mother and sister. He abandoned his dreams of attending college and began working as a bookkeeper for the Worcester Drop Forge Works, founded several years earlier by two young entrepreneurs, Horace Wyman and Lyman Gordon. Later renamed the Wyman-Gordon Company, the manufacturer became a leading producer of bicycle parts, railroad couplers, copper wire, and automobile and aircraft parts.

Fuller played a crucial role in the growth of the company, both as a manager and as an inventor of methods for improving the quality and durability of forged metal. At the age of forty-six he became president and treasurer of the company, following the death of Lyman Gordon in 1914. (Horace Wyman had died in 1905.)

Mrs. Fuller, originally from Boylston, was a devoted partner who pursued a number of cultural and charitable interests. Although the couple had no children, they touched the lives of countless of their fellow citizens through their generosity. During their lifetimes they gave special support to the YMCA and the YWCA, the Boys Club, the Girls Club, the Community Chest (fore-runner of the United Way), the Home for Aged Men, and several local churches, as well as numerous private individuals whose education they financed. In 1955 they created a lasting legacy by establishing the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation. Its primary goal is to assist local efforts in the fields of education, culture, history, health care, youth, religious organizations, social agencies, and schools.

Sybil and George Fuller were married for sixty-two years. She passed away in 1955 at the age of eighty-two and he followed in 1962 at the age of ninety-three.

Future generations of Trustees have continued the legacy initiated by their family through its role in improving The Greater Worcester community. The Fuller Foundation maintains a high interest in supporting the education of young people. It has provided considerable support to programs that open doors to new educational opportunities, particularly for minority and disadvantaged populations. It has been a traditionally strong supporter of the many institutions of higher learning in the Worcester area, including Worcester State University, where it has generously supported capital projects, access to educational opportunities for Latino students and scholarships for deserving students.