LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) has named a new college scholarship after Stites & Harbison construction attorney and AISC’s Secretary & General Counsel, David Ratterman. The “David B. Ratterman Fast Start AISC Scholarship Program” provides special consideration to the college age children of the steel industry’s blue and white-collar families. The initial scholarship program will award two $5,000 scholarships to freshman or sophomore level students of any area of study in the 2012-2013 academic year. Applicants must be the child of an AISC member fabricator employee or share permanent residence with an AISC member fabricator employee. Applications are due May 1, 2012. Detailed information can be found at www.aisc.org/scholarships.

David Ratterman has been AISC’s Secretary & General Counsel for nearly 25 years. He has and continues to be an advocate for education, particularly for those of limited means.

“About the time I was entering high school, the U.S. construction industry was in a recession, similar to the one we are pulling through now,” said David Ratterman. “I applied for a scholarship in mechanical engineering offered by my dad’s trade association, won it, and the rest is history. I would not have been able to attend college but for that scholarship. I am extremely honored by the naming of this scholarship program.”

At Stites & Harbison, PLLC, Ratterman is a Member of the Construction Service Group based in the firm’s Louisville office. His practice focuses on general construction law, with particular emphasis on the fabricated structural steel industry. His immersion in the construction industry began as a water boy on construction sites at age 10 and evolved through a series of engineering and construction positions with the U.S. Navy, state government and private industry. Ratterman received a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in Business Administration and juris doctorate from the University of Louisville.

AISC, headquartered in Chicago, is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry. AISC’s mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural steel-related technical and market building activities, including: specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, and market development. AISC has a long tradition of service to the steel construction industry of providing timely and reliable information.