Valmark Financial Group Scholarship in Financial Planning

The Valmark Financial Group Scholarship in Financial Planning was established in February 2019 and revised in September 2019 in include criteria for incoming freshman. It offers financial support to University of Akron College of Business Administration (CBA) students preparing for careers in financial planning.

The scholarship was made possible by Lawrence J. Rybka, chairman and chief executive officer of Valmark Financial Group. Mr. Rybka is a 1984 University of Akron alumnus. He joined Valmark in 1987 and became president and chief executive officer in 1999. In 2019, Mr. Rybka was named Valmark’s chairman and chief executive officer. Under his leadership, Valmark has experienced tremendous revenue growth. Mr. Rybka’s tenure has been marked by working with advisors and devising innovative solutions for clients; proactively anticipating regulatory issues impacting how these services are delivered.

Since its 1963 founding, Valmark Financial Group has been a leader in the financial services industry, working exclusively with successful entrepreneurial wealth transfer and wealth management firms to meet unique and ever-changing client needs. Their entities provide life insurance, equity, investment advisory, risk management and retirement plan products. They also support services for the industry’s top-tier of financial advisors.

The Valmark Financial Group values the communities in which they live and work and seeks to
do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Valmark has hired more than 40 University of Akron student interns. The firm gives back by contributing time and talents serving local and global non-profit organizations.

Mr. Rybka believes it’s important to reward scholars for academic excellence in finance. Through students hard work, they strengthen their knowledge in these areas, while preparing for careers to help others grow their finances and to protect their businesses and families futures.

The Valmark Financial Group Scholarship in Financial Planning will be used to help recruit and retain students in the College of Business Administration’s Financial Planning program.

Students eligible for The Valmark Financial Group Scholarship in Financial Planning must:

be admitted into the Financial Planning major;

have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher; or for incoming freshmen, a minimum high school GPA of 3.5 and ACT score of 23.

Timing of scholarship distributions and amounts will be determined as funds are available. Recipient selection will be made by the College of Business Administration’s Department of Finance Scholarship Committee. The scholarship may be renewed at the discretion of the chair of the Department of Finance or their designee(s).

To apply, students must complete a College of Business Administration Scholarship application. Additional materials may be requested from the Department of Finance for final consideration.