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Keith Nash believed in education that worked, and training that could be used every day and adapted for the future. A 1974 graduate of Southeast Community College’s Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Technology program, Keith often said “I got the best training ever”. He valued the instructors at SCC and appreciated how applicable the education was to real-life work.

This educational foundation carried Keith through a life-long career in construction, maintenance, and public service. From operating heavy equipment and working alongside his father at Nash Inc., to serving as the town maintenance man in Palmyra and later spending 25 years as a Utility Plant Mechanic for the City of Lincoln, Keith became known as someone who could fix just about anything. According to his sister, Marcia Ludden, Keith may not have pursued a traditional career in HVAC, but he relied on the skills he gained at SCC throughout his life.

When Marcia approached Michelle Birkel at the SCC Educational Foundation to share Keith’s wish to establish a scholarship, it was natural to assume – given his education and career – that it would support HVAC students. Instead, Keith chose to direct his generosity toward SCC’s emerging technology programs: Energy Generation Operations and Non-Destructive Testing Technology. Keith held a deep respect for proven, time-tested systems and he knew how to keep them running (often with a whole lot of freon). At the same time, he was deeply curious about what came next. He independently studied new technologies and energy production, always looking toward the future. Marcia believes that had these programs been available during Keith’s time at the Milford Campus, he would have chosen to pursue them himself. As Marcia shared, Keith wanted his scholarship to support innovation, the new technologies and the future it represents.

Those who knew Keith remember his dry humor, quiet generosity, and genuine interest in people. “Everybody liked Keith,” Marcia said. “He was very pleasant, very knowledgeable, and he’d work really hard to make you laugh.”

The Keith P. Nash Memorial Scholarship supports students enrolled in SCC’s Energy Generation Operations and Nondestructive Testing Technology Programs. In addition, Keith’s generosity will touch the lives of HVAC students through his $50,000 contribution to the new Construction Technology Center (CTC), scheduled to break ground on the Milford Campus next year. Through the scholarship and his donation to the new CTC, Keith’s belief in strong technical education and forward-thinking industries lives on by supporting students who, like him, are ready to build, maintain, and improve the world around them.