Liautaud scholarship for business students

Gražina (Gina) Liautaud has created three $10,000 scholarships for graduate students attending accredited Illinois business schools in remembrance of her late husband James (Big Jim) Liautaud.

James P. Liautaud, an educator and businessman, died on October 23, 2015 at the age of 79. He was a Chicagoan who earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1963 from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after serving in Korea in the U.S. Army. In 1968, he became president of an Elgin manufacturing company – Capsonic Group. Mr. Liautaud founded numerous businesses, including American Antenna, a manufacturer of automotive two-way radios; K40 Electronics, a maker of radar detection systems. He also joined the University of Illinois at Chicago as a clinical professor, where he created Process Designed Training, a leadership training method that he continued to promote in the Liautaud Institute at UIC. James Liautaud initiated the Chicago Family Business Council at DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business.

Requirements

Candidates must be of Lithuanian descent and accepted and enrolled at an accredited business school in the state of Illinois, and have completed at least sophomore year of bachelor’s degree.

Documents to be submitted

1. copy of a government issued ID (driver’s license, state ID, passport);
2. the most current official university transcript sent by the school (applicant should have completed at least sophomore year of bachelor’s degree);
3. letter of acceptance and proof of enrollment to an accredited business school in the state of Illinois if starting school in fall of 2025;
4. 2 letters of recommendation from professors/teachers written on school letterhead and signed or sent from the school’s email address.