Scholarships Ceremony Brings Together Benefactors, Bright Students

The College of Optical Sciences recognized its latest scholarship winners with a special ceremony and reception on Monday, April 28. Family, friends, donors and colleagues crowded Meinel 307 to celebrate the scholastic achievements of these remarkable students.

Travis Sawyer, recipient of the Jack D. Gaskill Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences, opened the program by describing the unique path that pulled him into optics — and how scholarship support impacts his interaction with field. Then Robert Edmund, CEO and chairman of the board of Edmund Optics and chair of the college's development board, spoke of how the life experiences of his father, Norman W. Edmund, led to the overwhelming success of the company Norman founded and inspired Robert himself to give back to the optics industry by assisting its students.

Scholarships were awarded as follows:

Undergraduate Scholarships

• David H. Cushing Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Derek Keyes
• Jack D. Gaskill Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Ali Khan, Travis Sawyer and Oliver Spires
• James M. Palmer Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Benjamin Cromey
• John E. Greivenkamp Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Jaden Bankhead
• Marathay Family Endowed Undergraduate Scholarshiop in Optical Sciences: Samantha Hoeger
• Norman W. Edmund Merit Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Brandon Hellman

Graduate Student Scholarships

• Arthur G. (Jerry) and Beatrice DeBell Memorial Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Kali Wilson, nominated by adviser Brian Anderson
• Jacobus M. and Michelle L. Oschmann Optical Sciences and Business Leadership Scholarship: Kevin Newman
• Kenneth E. and Michele L. Moore Graduate Student Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Alexander Lin
• Mary Jo Lake Memorial Fellowship in Optical Sciences: Amanda Chatterton (for 2013) and Kerry Nierenberg
• Nicolaas Bloembergen Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Jeffrey Davis (for 2013) and Zhaozhao Zhu
• Philip N. and Joan A. Slater Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Christopher Summitt
• Roland V. Shack Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Roopa Gowda
• William L. Wolfe Family Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Patrick Thrasher and Austin Wilson
• Dean's Funds for Excellence Scholarship: Tasha Adams, Stephanie Arouh, Anand Bahl, Hsiu-Ting Chan, Amanda Chatterton, Johnathan Cushing, Jeffrey Davis, Nasrin Ghanbari, Dale Karas, Justin Knight, Erfan Motafakker Fard, Joshua Olson and Phil Scott

Friends of Tucson Optics Graduate Student Scholarships

• John B. Hayes and Jane C. Quale Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Brian Redman
• Joseph W. Goodman Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Abhinav Rastogi
• Kenneth E. and Michele L. Moore Graduate Student Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Lee Johnson and Robert Rockmore
• Lawrence A. Johnson Graduate Student Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Logan Graves
• Louise A. Wyant Memorial Scholarship in Optical Sciences: Maria del Carmen Ruiz (for 2013) and Mohan Xu
• Willis E. Lamb Jr. Endowed Scholarship: Alexander Lin and Jessica Doehrmann (for 2013); Samuel Nerenberg and Liliana Ruiz Diaz

Among this year's honorees was Samantha Hoeger, a senior at Tucson's Catalina High School and the first high school student ever recognized with an OSC scholarship. 

Also recognized were the college's outstanding undergraduate and graduate students, Johnathan Davis and Byron Cocilovo. Details about their awards and accomplishments will follow in a subsequent issue of the newsletter.

A gallery of photographs from the event is now available.