This fund was established by Bud and Kim Deffebach in 2007 to support the Successful Transition through Enhanced Preparation (STEP-UP) program for minority engineering students or other similar programs in the College of Engineering.

Bud Deffebach earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1988 from the University of Florida and a juris doctor in 1992 from Emory University. He is a patent lawyer and managing member of the firm Andre-Troner LC.

Kim Deffebach earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UF in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Georgia State University in 1998. She is a clinical psychologist specializing in child development.