The Andrew T. Wallen Memorial Education Foundation, Inc. was formed to honor and carry on the life philosophies of Andrew Thor Wallen.  Andrew was a true renaissance man – a philosopher, engineer, artist, writer, and humanist – focused simply on improving the world around him.  Our mission is to fund need-based scholarships to deserving individuals and organizations, fostering a community dedicated to a sustainable, just, and peaceful planet. We believe in building a community of scholars, artists, and people who will continually strive to improve their corner of the world – not through the pure creation of wealth and technology – but through improving the health of the planet and society with revolutionary, but yet implementable, ideas through all disciplines. We understand this has broad implications, and support the diversity of people and resources necessary to carry out this mission.

The Foundation currently awards scholarships for the educational advancement of graduating high school students from Andrew’s alma mater, DeForest High School, chosen on the basis of academic potential, financial need, and career and personal objectives aligned with the Foundation’s mission.  The students become part of the Foundation’s “community of scholars” which is meant to nurture interdisciplinary peer-peer mentoring and future community engagement.   The Foundation also funds and supports research on Wisconsin education policy through the Forward Institute, Inc. and future dissertation research grants to doctoral students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.