Raised in the coal mining town of Shadyside, Ohio, Peter L. Scott is the epitome of the self-made man.
He started his first company at age 25 after graduating from Ohio State with an electrical engineering degree in 1949.
One entrepreneurial venture after another led this man to become a booming business tycoon and a millionaire. But, behind every good man, there is a good woman. Claire M. Scott met her husband while she was a student at Ohio State, and the two were married in 1948.
“Everything we’ve ever done in our life, we’ve done together,” she said.
Peter Scott left his solid job with Texas Instruments to start his own business in his early twenties. He began it in his garage and used Claire’s kitchen oven to bake resins.
“It was a lot of hard work and we put every penny back into the company,” he said.
That ambitious attitude developed into a multi-million dollar success and Hermetic Seal was bought by Dresser Industries in 1957. He then became president of Dresser Electronics.
“At that time electronics was becoming a glamour industry,” he said.
In the years following, Peter Scott started two more of his own companies and has been the president, vice president, and board member of numerous high-profile companies. For all of these accomplishments, he was recognized by the university with the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1986; yet, he said the biggest achievement in his entire life was marrying his wife.
The retired couple has turned their attention to helping ambitious young men and women of Ohio State succeed. The Scotts have donated a gift of $10 million to support a new three-building facility for the department of mechanical engineering. They are the principal private gift donor for the $72.5 million project.
The facility will be named the Peter L. and Clara M. Scott Laboratory, however, the demolition of the old Robinson Laboratory will not take place until fall quarter 2003 is completed, said Lester Barnhart, director of development for the department of mechanical engineering.
The Scotts are invested financially and emotionally to their commitment of encouraging young minds. They hope that the new facility will attract better students and a better faculty, but they are leaving the details up to the individuals that run the department.
“We’re not involved in the politics of OSU; we’re just interested in helping the university. That is our sole purpose,” said Claire Scott.
The Scotts are not limiting their generosity to just college students. They have established another scholarship program at Shadyside High School. The No. 1 student in the school starting next spring will receive a sum between $4,000-$5,000. If the student maintains a grade point average of 3.0 or better during college the scholarship will be re-awarded every year. The funds will go directly to tuition at the college of their choice.
The Scotts are supporting students in Ohio because they believe any student dedicated to their education can achieve their highest goals, much like Peter Scott did.
“Students should go forward and don’t limit yourself,” he said. “You can conquer the world if you want to. I came from a coal mining town and was a baby of the Depression and ended up the chairman of the board at Black & Decker.”
The legacy of this OSU couple will continue not only through the building dedicated in their name, but also, through their grandson, Peter L. Scott IV. He will begin enrollment at the university this fall and is considering majoring in business or engineering.
“He is looking forward to being a Buckeye and wants to be just like his grandfather,” said Claire Scott.
The couple lives in a log house on a lake in North Carolina, which has always been a dream of theirs. Peter Scott loves to fish off the lake. The couple will return to Columbus on Oct. 17 for the ceremonial ground-breaking of the new facility.
