Frank and Janice Cirillo Endowed Scholarship for Veterans

Frank enlisted in the US Air Force in May of 1966 and was commissioned later that year. He spent 26 years working in the Civil Engineering field, ultimately retiring as a Colonel. He had assignments in AZ, CA (SJS), RVN (unaccompanied), SD, IL, AK (unaccompanied), DC, CA, FL, HI - most with Jan.

Frank and Jan have two children and recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. After retiring, Frank worked on three Presidential Commissions (BRAC), for three private sector engineering firms, the US House of Representatives, and retiring (again) in 2016 as a self-employed Defense Consultant.

Jan was unexpectedly pulled into the military life (Frank actually received a Draft notice), but had a succession of jobs at many assignment locations as a Research Associate, IBM-Rolm Systems Trainer, and career and student counselor. She eventually retired from Fairfax County Public Schools.

Jan and Frank are enjoying being at long last fully retired with yearly overseas adventures. They love coming back to the University whenever they can, including to games, Maryland Day, fraternity activities, alumni events (Frank served a tour on the Alumni Board of Governors), and especially to TerpVets events.

David Shewfelt  joined the Marine Corps at the age of 20 during a semester at Anne Arundel Community College. He learned very quickly that he was not ready to go to college and was not there for the right reasons. David also learned how expensive college was while he worked a full-time job sanding and painting boat bottoms to pay for his tuition and books. The military not only afforded him leadership opportunities at a young age, but it also helped David to mature and understand his goals in life. That experience led David to finishing his degree at the University of Maryland, and now, he is confident that he’s here for the right reasons.

Justin Goodwin is a United States Air Force veteran of 8.5 years of service as an Electrical Power Production Craftsman separating at the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served at Spangdahlem AB Germany, Vandenberg AFB California, Osan AB South Korea, and deployed to Kuwait, Jordan, and Bulgaria. Justin is most proud of his dedication to leading, mentoring, and taking care of the Airmen that he supervised, turning fresh and young technicians into subject matter experts that the Air Force depend on. Justin is also proud of the direct impact he had on the missions he supported while deployed, leading Airmen in supporting the mission, our NATO allies, and making sure that every pilot made it home safely to their families.

Matthew is a member of the Air Force National Guard and has served for just over 4 years. He is a first generation college student majoring in computer engineering. He has a brother in the Air Force and a grandfather who served in the Navy. He hopes to work in cybersecurity and intelligence for the government when he graduates. He has been deployed to Afghanistan and Estonia.

Matthew Black served for seven years in the US Army with three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is currently a junior majoring in Electrical Engineering. Matthew credits his service with instilling the values of discipline, commitment, and respect that he believes will serve him well as a future member of the US Intelligence community. He is the president of the University of Maryland Motorcycle Club.

Tony Giampietro is a junior working on his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He served almost 4 years in the Marine Corps Reserves (and continues as a Reservist) having been promoted to Corporal in Bravo Company 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance. Tony hails from Maryland and recently interned with Jacobs Engineering as a Construction Management engineer where he hopes to be employed full time when he graduates.

Mahesh was born in India and immigrated to the US as a student in 2007. Two years later, in 2009, he received an offer to join the US Army as a language interpreter for Special Forces teams. He served a combat tour in Afghanistan with them. Following that, he got an opportunity to serve with an aviation unit in South Korea, where he stayed until he finished his service in the Army. After serving 4 years in the Army, he arrived at the University of Maryland in spring of 2014. Currently, he is a junior majoring in mechanical engineering and is expected to graduate by end of fall 2017. Following graduation, he looks forward to serving in the US Air Force as a commissioned officer.