North Carolina State University Selects Park Scholars

North Carolina State University has announced the Park Scholars class for fall 2008. These prestigious awards are valued at about $59,000 for North Carolina residents and $107,000 for out-of-state students. The scholarship winners were selected from a pool of more than 1,000 highly qualified applicants.

The biographies and photos of the Class of 2012 Park Scholars can be accessed on the Web at: www.ncsu.edu/park_scholarships/news/index.php.

The Park Scholarships program is among the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate merit scholarship programs. The scholarships pay expenses for four years of study at NC State, and include a computer stipend and funds for academic enrichment activities.

The winners are among the brightest in their generation, including 25 class valedictorians, a Siemens AP Award winner, a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search, and the first prizewinner of the National Film Technology Contest. Award recipients have also distinguished themselves as engaged citizens in their communities by regularly volunteering in parks, hospitals, animal shelters, and Habitat for Humanity chapters. One recipient is a published author whose work generated money for charity, and another won the prestigious William T. Hornaday Award for his outstanding service in conservation.

“These young adults have demonstrated remarkable public service in their communities and have achieved at the highest scholastic level,” said Laura Gail Lunsford, director of the Park Scholarships program. “The selection of this diverse class of scholars is a testament to the outstanding job the public schools are doing in educating our most talented students. The in-state students reflect the diversity of North Carolina’s students across rural and urban areas, gender, race, and social class. We are pleased to have worked with the state superintendent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the NCSU Society of Black Alumni, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other groups to encourage all talented students to consider the Park Scholarships.”

Selection criteria for the Park Scholarships include academic achievement; personal qualities such as character, integrity and motivation; exceptional leadership potential; and commitment to the betterment of one’s community. The scholarships are renewable each year, based on student academic achievement and personal conduct.

The Park Foundation of Ithaca, N.Y., established the scholarships at NC State in 1996 with an initial gift to support 25 Park Scholars. The scholarships are named in honor of the late Roy H. Park, who passed away in 1993. Park was a distinguished alumnus of NC State and president of Park Communications Inc., a conglomerate of newspapers, television and radio stations that, at one point, reached one-third of all American homes. Made possible by Mrs. Park’s personal gift of $5 million to the university, the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center, housing the Park Scholarships’ Centennial Campus office, opened last fall.

– 30 –