Tony Ferguson Memorial Scholarship
This memorial Scholarship honors the life of Mr. Thomas Eugene “Tony” Ferguson for his contributions to the welding industry, to Fluor Corporation and to the people fortunate to have known him. Most of all Tony loved teaching, helping others to advance their careers making this scholarship in his memory so appropriate. Tony was a very kind person, a mentor and a friend to all that knew him.
Before Tony passed away on Christmas Day 2018 at the age of 77, he had dedicated his life to the advancement of welding. Spanning his remarkable 58 years of service to Fluor Corporation as a Welding Engineer, Tony worked to better the welding industry, as well as selflessly helping people professionally and personally.
Tony was the "go to" person to solve any welding problems at Fluor. Tony had been an AWS Certified Welding Inspector since 1980, an AWS Certified Welding Educator since 1995, a Life Member of AWS, sat on the Welding Advisory Committee for Greenville Technical College, a National Center for Construction Education Research Welding Instructor and an SNT-TC-1A Level III VT.
Tony’s personal contributions to Fluor and the welding industry were immeasurable, too numerous to count. His legacy will be one of impeccable character, loyalty, wisdom and contagious positivity, that we may never see again.
Tony was the welding engineer or welder of record on the first welding procedures ever qualified by Daniel Construction in the early 1970’s. He prepared the original Welding Manuals for Fluor Corporation that became the foundation for so many prestigious and successful projects around the world
Tony’s desire to embrace and implement new welding technology played a key role in the introduction of numerous other industry advancements i.e., narrow groove welding, welding of P91 materials, field acceptance of FCAW, and special techniques for welding nickel base alloys. 
In the infancy of orbital welding technology, approximately 40 years ago, Tony was instrumental in the development, implementation and qualification of this “new” technology.
In the early 2000’s Tony was instrumental in advancing GMAW technology and techniques for welding the root pass, fill and cap with no backing gas in stainless steel and advanced Creep Strength Enhanced Ferritic alloys, known most readily as Surface Tension Transfer (STT) and Regulated Metal Deposition (RMD).
Tony worked closely with manufacturers, transforming product development in the areas of inverter based power supplies, more user friendly portable wire feed systems and simplified control hardware to simplify work for the welders, which improved Quality and Productivity, while reducing cost to the owners.
Tony was a pioneer in the ideation and introduction of induction heating technology for welding. He was a champion of improving field heat treatment and drove this technology’s acceptance in a wide variety of field applications, to provide greater flexibility to more appropriate tool selection, asset optimization, quality and safety.
Tony cherished the opportunity to teach, whether it was explaining welding specifications or codes to a young welding engineer or simply helping a student improve their welding skills and techniques. In his later years, Tony was most recognized for his contribution to Welder Training, Quality Assurance and Welding Program development. During this time, he developed and taught SNT-TC-1A Level II VT training programs as well as a class called "Welding for Engineering" to teach non-welding professionals about welding.
One of Tony’s many outstanding accomplishments came when he was 75 years old; he was the welder of record for Fluor's Triennial ASME Code Stamp Review. (View on Youtube)
Tony dedicated his life to supporting and promoting welding within Fluor and the industry, which he did until the very last days of his life.
The Tony Ferguson Memorial Scholarship is for students who meet the following criteria:
- In a welding certificate, associates, or bachelor's degree program
- Minimum 2.5 GPA
- US citizen
- Priority will be given to students in 1) South Carolina or 2) North Carolina
- Priority will be given to students that enroll in a program with hands-on welding as part of the curriculum
Scholarship amount: $3,000
Apply online at scholarship.aws.org.