Today, October 23, would have been Grant Imahara’s fiftieth birthday. The talented innovator, engineer, and exceptionally kind human being passed in July 2020 from a brain aneurysm. Grant inspired so many people from his fans to his loved ones. His work on MythBusters alone reached so many. To honor his memory, family and friends have established The Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation. The non-profit foundation will empower underserved youth to become active in science, technology, engineering, art and math. It’s a fitting tribute for someone gone way too soon.
Early in his career when he worked at ILM, Imahara spent some of his time mentoring a high school robotics team for the FIRST Robotics Competition. He continued working with young people throughout his career. And now his foundation will do that in his stead by providing mentorships, grants, and scholarships to support STEAM education.
Discovery
Foundation co-founder, and Grant’s mother, Carolyn Imahara said in a statement, “There are many students, like my son Grant, who need the balance of the technical and the creative, and this is what STEAM is all about. I’m so proud of my son’s career, but I’m equally proud of the work he did mentoring students. He would be thrilled that we plan to continue this, plus much more, through The Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation.”
Along with the foundation launching on Friday, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, together with Grant’s USC classmate and friend Wade Bick (Electrical Engineering, ’93), kicked off a drive to name a study lounge after alumnus Imahara. Any gifts for the Grant Imahara Memorial Study Lounge will go directly to support the USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center. You can support the campaign here.
To learn more about The Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation and donate if you can, visit the foundation’s website.
Featured Image: Discovery
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of The Jedi Mind, available for pre-order now. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
