Pictured above, from left to right: Bob Nason, Trade Union convener for Jaguar Land Rover, Solihull and West Midlands, Professor Madeleine Atkins, Linda Polites and David Smith.

Jaguar Land Rover, in collaboration with Coventry University, is offering three scholarships memory of JLR's former Chief Executive, Geoff Polites.

Geoff Polites was Chief Executive of Jaguar Land Rover between 2005 and 2008. An Australian by birth, he was an inspirational leader and had a 40-year career in the automotive industry. He died in Australia in 2008 at the age of 60 after two years of illness.

Geoff's widow, Linda, visited Coventry University recently with the current Chief Executive Officer, David Smith, to launch the Jaguar Land Rover Geoff Polites Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarships will be made available to any full-time student (UK, EU or Overseas) who are children of a permanent Jaguar Land Rover employee and are beginning their study in September 2009 on one of the selected courses.

The three scholarships, worth £4,000 a year, will be directed at courses that were linked to Geoff's main interests - automotives and sport.

Linda Polites came over from Australia and while in the UK, met the University's Vice Chancellor, Professor Madeleine Atkins, to officially acknowledge the Memorial Scholarship in her husband's name.

She also had a tour of the Coventry School of Art and Design's annual degree show exhibition.