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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

Foundation funds College scientists

The Henry Luce Foundation and the Clare Boothe Luce Program awarded Saint Mary's $240,000 to provide scholarships to students studying in the physical science fields.
Starting in the fall of 2013, two students in chemistry, physics, math or engineering who exemplify high-performance skills in their disciplines will be granted the scholarship. It will cover their full tuition, room and board for their final two years at the College.
"These scholarships are granted to women the committee believes will become academic leaders in their particular fields," said Christopher Dunlap, associate professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and the project director of the Clare Boothe Luce program. "About four or five years ago, we had this scholarship program at Saint Mary's. The program then had four recipients."
Henry Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., founded the not-for-profit to honor his parents who were missionary educators in China. The scholarship program was named after his wife, Clare Boothe Luce, the U.S. ambassador to Italy and the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut.
Dunlap said students must be U.S. citizens and have a grade point average of at least 3.5 to be considered for the scholarship. Those intending to pursue a career as a health care professional, however, will not be eligible, he said.
"The students must be high-achieving individuals planning on going to graduate school," Dunlap said. "After completion of graduate school, the student will hopefully take on roles of academic leadership, for example, teaching at colleges and universities."
Over the next few weeks, Dunlap, as well as his colleagues on the scholarship's committee, will have more information about the application and scholarship ready for current sophomores to learn more about the program, she said.
"Along with the application, students must receive a letter of recommendation from the faculty," Dunlap said. "After the application process is complete, the committee will select who the recipients of the Clare Booth Luce Scholarship at Saint Mary's."
Applications will be available in late January or early February and the selection process will be completed by mid-March.
The math and chemistry departments will begin to target the current sophomores eligible for this scholarship over the course of the next semester, Dunlap said.
She said the women who receive these scholarships will be involved in activities to encourage other young girls to pursue their education in science or mathematics.
"This is a great opportunity for those women at Saint Mary's looking to advance in academic leadership in the science and math fields," Dunlap said.