Scholarship Recipients, 2014-2015
Awards from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi—the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines
National - Graduate Fellowship
$5,000 Awarded
Jenny Barriga of Los Angeles, Calif., has been awarded a Fellowship.
Barriga received bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and molecular biophysics and chemistry from Kansas State University and will continue studies in biophysics at Stanford University upon completing a year-long post-baccalaureate placement at the National Institutes of Health.
Barriga is among 57 students nationwide to receive a Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship. Since its creation in 1932, the Fellowship Program has become one of the Society's most visible and financially well-supported endeavors, allocating $345,000 annually to deserving students for first-year graduate or professional study. Currently, 51 Fellowships of $5,000 and six of $15,000 are awarded each year.
The selection process for the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowships is based on the applicants' evidence of graduate potential, undergraduate academic achievement, service and leadership experience, letters of recommendation, personal statement of educational perspective and career goals, and acceptance at an approved graduate or professional program.
source: Phi Kappa Phi, National Office
National - Study/Internship Abroad Grant
$1,000 Awarded
Amanda Josephine Braun of Manhattan, Kan., recently was awarded a Study Abroad Grant. Braun is one of 50 students nationwide to receive the award.
Currently a junior majoring in secondary education and biology at Kansas State University, Braun used the grant to study abroad in Bahia, Brazil.
Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grants are designed to support undergraduates, both members and nonmembers, as they seek expanded knowledge and experience in their academic fields. Since the program's inception in 2001, the Society has awarded more than $600,000 in Study Abroad Grants.
source: Phi Kappa Phi, National Office
$2,500 Awarded
Dr. Marilyn Kaff, Books-in-a-Bag Program
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is pleased to announce Dr. Marilyn Kaff as recipient of a 2014 Literacy Grant. Kaff is one of 14 recipients nationwide to receive the award.
The $2,500 grant will be used to support the Books-in-a-Bag program, which aims to address one of the most basic impediments to literacy in Tanzania—books in the home. The program, developed by faculty and students from the Kansas State University College of Education, assists families with children with disabilities in Lushoto, Tanzania. Through provided training, parents are encouraged to explore books and bond with their children through reading. Additionally, families receive illustrated books based on local tales, written in Kiswahili and English, to which children can easily relate. MP3s of the stories also are distributed to promote literacy among families without literate members.
The Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant program was initiated in 2003 to provide funding to Phi Kappa Phi chapters and active members for ongoing projects or new initiatives that reinforce part of the Society's mission "to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Drawing from a multi-disciplinary Society of students and scholars from large and small institutions, applicants are encouraged to consider literacy projects that have creative relevance to their disciplines and to the needs of their communities.
source: Phi Kappa Phi, National Office
$500 Awarded
David D. Vail of Manhattan, Kan., recently was awarded a Love of Learning award. He is one of 147 recipients nationwide to receive the award.
Vail, assistant professor and public services archivist at Kansas State University, plans to use funds from the award to examine the archival collections, manuscripts, and collected papers at Oregon State University as part of a broad research project that also will include other university libraries, special collections and scholarly repositories.
Vail was initiated into the Society in 2004 at Southern Oregon University.
Dilooshi Werasooriya of Manhattan, Kan., recently was awarded a Love of Learning award. She is one of 147 recipients nationwide to receive the award.
Werasooriya is a graduate research assistant in plant and breeding genetics at Kansas State University. She intends to use funds from the award for research purposes.
Werasooriya was initiated into the Society in 2013 at Kansas State University.
The Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award program was initiated in 2007 to help fund graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, career development and travel related to teaching and studies for active Society members.
The Society's robust award program grants more than $1 million each biennium to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards and grants for local and national literacy initiatives.
source: Phi Kappa Phi, National Office
| Kiah M. Gourley | Animal Science & Industry |
| Reagan Kays | Agribusiness |
| Brady R. Rundel | Agricultural Economics |
| Jessica C. Wheeler | Biochemistry |
