普拉特 Honors Kettering With Gift Through IRA

When Bernard 普拉特 thought about honoring places that made a significant impact on his life, Kettering University came to mind.

普拉特, who earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (GMI) in 1965, made a gift through his Individual Retirement Account (IRA). This recent gift has moved him into the President’s Circle, which recognizes donors who have made cumulative gifts of $10,000 or more, pledged a gift over five years to reach this level, or documented a planned gift of $25,000 or more.

普拉特 recently learned making a gift through his IRA helps to avoid paying income taxes and meet required minimum distributions (RMDs) when it’s due. 

“If you’re taking the standard deduction when you’re filing taxes, that precludes you from taking deductions from charities because you’re taking the standard deduction,” 普拉特 said. “但, if you’re donating part of your required minimum distribution from your IRA, you get that deduction in addition to the standard deduction. It’s win-win.”

However, he said the tax benefits are just a bonus because he would have made a gift regardless.

He allocated his gift to the Women Helping Women Scholarship and African American Scholarship to help increase diversity in engineering. 

Oldsmobile in Lansing sponsored 普拉特 and hired him after graduation. He moved around but ultimately spent his career on the factory floor developing processes for new parts and running support and production for new equipment. 普拉特 also spent some time on the Saturn project before moving to a tool and die shop in Mansfield, 俄亥俄州, where he was the plant manager.

It wasn’t until he learned about GMI from an alumnus that he thought attending college was possible. The other boys often dropped out of school after the eighth grade to turn their attention to full-time work on the family farm. As one of 12 children whose parents didn’t support his desire to go to college, 普拉特 had to pay his own way.

“I knew nothing about scholarships and didn’t know how I could go to college until I heard about GMI,” he said. 

His time at GMI was difficult. He struggled with academics and making ends meet. During his 合作社 term, he once worked the 12-hour midnight shift for seven days a week for six weeks to earn overtime pay. Car parts were stressed, bent and fatigued in various ways. 普拉特’s job was to monitor them and record the temperature, revolutions per minute (rpm) and readings.

“It was an experimental lab for product engineering, and the testing equipment ran for 24 hours a day,” 普拉特 said. “They needed someone to watch it during the night.”

普拉特 also worked with his carpenter brother-in-law when he didn't have overtime. During school terms, he took shifts at the gas station near his place and studied between pumping gas for customers.

“I had to work so hard, not only to keep up with the money but academically,” 普拉特 said. “I was almost not allowed to take the entrance exam because my high school curriculum was not tailored to a technical education. I had to really work at it. … I was so happy when I finished GMI. By the time I got out of there, I didn’t want to see the place for a long time.”

Ultimately, he realized it was all worth it.

“Gradually, I came to realize that I had a pretty good life because of what I had achieved at GMI,” 普拉特 said.

“I knew nothing about scholarships and didn’t know how I could go to college until I heard about GMI."

- Bernard 普拉特 '65