March 15^th, 2000                

Nasser announces engineering scholarships for women

Ford chief executive Jac Nasser has announced the establishment of a Ford Australia undergraduate scholarship program to encourage women in engineering.

Speaking at the World Leadership Dinner 2000, in benefit of Mission Australia, Mr Nasser said that one scholarship would be offered over the four years of the program at five of Australia’s premier universities.

"Ford Australia is keen to develop the role of women in engineering and these scholarships provide us with the opportunity to actively support women in our industry," said Mr Nasser.

"It is an important part of our drive to become the number one consumer company for automotive products and services. Being a leading consumer company means a lot more than just building great cars – it also means developing the skills within our company that will allow us to look our consumers in the eye and say, we’ve done the best thing, the right thing, for you.

"By providing more opportunities for women in engineering we will be better positioned to tap into the needs and wants of this large segment of our market. This can only help us produce more consumer-oriented vehicles," Mr Nasser said.

"These scholarships, along with other corporate citizenship initiatives and our efforts to embrace e-commerce, will ensure that our consumers look upon us as a leading company in more than just the traditional manner."

The scholarships will be offered at the University of Queensland, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, RMIT University and Deakin University.

Also at the World Leadership Dinner, Mr Nasser announced a $100,000 donation from Ford Motor Company to Mission Australia, along with proceeds from the auction of the Ford Global Tour.

The Ford Global Tour includes a round-the-world business class trip for two with the successful bidders flying to Los Angeles where they will be met by a Ford company jet to fly to Detroit. In Detroit they will visit and lunch with Jac Nasser and visit various Ford facilities and attractions before continuing on to the UK. There they will visit Jaguar and Aston Martin facilities (both companies part of the Ford group), before returning to Australia.

"I was honoured when Mission Australia asked me to deliver the keynote address at the Leadership Dinner because I fully support what it is aiming to achieve through its programs," Mr Nasser said.