Steven Allen Dinger Scholarship Endowment

Established in March 2015 to recognize outstanding Mission College students who have successfully completed business classes and demonstrated hard work and ingenuity in the field of business at school or in the community.

Steve Dinger was an inspirational leader, educator, and true adventurer. He was born to Raymond and Ione Dinger in a small town in Wisconsin. Later, Steve became the first member of his family to attend a university when he earned his degree at the University of Northern Iowa. He went on to obtain a Master's Degree in Educational Administration through a joint program between Stanford and University of Iowa. His teaching career began at Thomas Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In 1978, Steve helped create the business department at the newly-opened Mission College in Santa Clara, California. He was much loved and respected by students and faculty during his 30 years at the College. Steve served as department chair, division chair, and interim dean.

"Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'." - Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

When Steve was not teaching, he exhibited a passionate interest in sailing. He captained his sailboat "Tivoli," a 47-foot catamaran, throughout the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific Coast. The secret to his vital life was in part based on the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. Throughout Steve's life, he planned meaningful goals. With this approach, he sailed oceans and embraced the countries that he traveled. Many of those miles at sea he shared with friends, family, and Robin, his wife of 26 years. Steve chose to retire to the California delta where he sailed its waterways and fought to protect it. His life was cut short on the brink of a planned Pacific passage.

"There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, and may they always be." - An Irish Toast