Wally Bamford

Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in the January/February 2024 Air & Atmosphere Heat Treat print edition.

Feel free to contact Doug at doug@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

On the evening of October 11, 2023, at the El Conquistador Resort in Tucson, Arizona, a crowd of roughly 300 individuals associated with the Metal Treating Institute experienced something I’m quite sure NO ONE in the room had ever experienced before. Following that evening’s gala dinner event, Mr. Wally Bamford (more about Wally below) addressed the crowd with a few remembrances and thoughts on the over 50 years he has spent in the North American heat treating industry and then announced to the crowd that he and his wife Betty were establishing a $1,000,000.00 scholarship fund to be administered by the Metal Treating Institute’s Educational Foundation.

In typical Wally Bamford style, Wally tacked on the word “Canadian” (as if to minimize the amount!) after wowing the crowd with “one million.” This resulted in both a roaring round of applause mixed with sprinkles of laughter for Wally’s characteristic humility and humor. The smile on Wally’s face was so genuinely happy.

What a great guy! Even before this exceptionally generous donation, Wally was known to be one of the most kind, gracious, and generous individuals in the industry. He and Betty were one of the first people my wife Mary and I met when we first entered the industry back in 1994. The four of us, along with two other couples, went hiking in the mountains near Whistler, British Columbia, on one of the free afternoons of an industry annual meeting. It was a memorable time not only for the beauty of the scenery but also for the kindness and impressive physical fitness of both Wally and Betty. Consistently, from hat day forward, Wally and Betty have been stalwarts in the industry — always kind, always interested in other people.

For those who don’t know Wally, he is now in his late 80s or early 90s and was the founder of Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. He’s been involved with a variety of commercial heat treating ventures as well as high-temperature furnace manufacturer, Harper International. His list of accomplishments is too long to list here but suffice it to say that Wally is a true heat treat legend and a genuinely nice person.

Buster Crossley, of Texas Heat Treating in Austin, Texas, is the current president of the MTI Educational Foundation. Along with Tom Morrison (CEO of MTI) and me (the current treasurer of the Foundation), he gratefully and humbly received Wally’s very generous donation. According to Mr. Crossley, the donation and earnings from the donation will be used over the next 10 years to establish a strong and lasting scholarship program to be administered by the Foundation.

The North American heat treating industry is a better place with Wally and Betty Bamford. Everyone affected would like to say a HUGE thank you to both of them for their exceptionally generous donation.

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