AIAA Foundation Presents Nine Undergraduate Scholarships Written 13 July 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AIAA
John Blacksten
703.264.7532
johnb@aiaa.org

July 13, 2015 – Reston, Va. – The AIAA Foundation has awarded nine AIAA Foundation undergraduate scholarships for the 2015–2016 academic year.

The Vicki and George Muellner Scholarship for Aerospace Engineering, named for and endowed by former AIAA President Lt. Gen. George Muellner, U.S. Air Force (retired) and president of advanced systems for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (retired), and his wife Vicki, was presented to Miles Bengtson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida.

“Vicki and I are pleased to have been able to endow the Vicki and George Muellner Scholarship for Aerospace Engineering,” said Lt. Gen. Muellner. “As a former scholarship recipient, I am mindful that scholarships can make a real difference for students as they pursue their degrees. This scholarship and all of the other AIAA Foundation scholarships, offer real assistance to students, allowing them to focus on finishing their education and taking their place in the next generation of our aerospace workforce.”

The Catherine and David Thompson Space Technology Scholarship, named for and endowed by former AIAA President David Thompson, chairman, CEO, and president of Orbital ATK, Dulles, Virginia, and his wife Catherine, was presented to Samantha Rawlins, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California.

The Leatrice Gregory Pendray Scholarship, awarded to the Foundation’s top female scholarship applicant, was presented to Abigail Spohn, The University of Dayton, Ohio.

Six AIAA Foundation undergraduate scholarships were presented by AIAA Technical Committees (TCs) to students performing research in that TC’s area:

• The Liquid Propulsion TC presented a scholarship to Erik Ballesteros, University of Texas at Austin.


• The Space Transportation TC presented a scholarship to Aadil Pappa, University of Texas at Austin.

The Digital Avionics TC presented four scholarships:

• The Dr. James Rankin Digital Avionics Scholarship was presented to McKenzie Kinzbach, The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.


• The Dr. Amy R. Pritchett Digital Avionics Scholarshipwas presented to Nicole Whiting, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.


• The Ellis F. Hitt Digital Avionics Scholarship was presented to Stephen Higgins, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.


• The Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics Scholarship was presented to Alex Strange, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin.

“The Digital Avionics Technical Committee is dedicated to providing a forum for the exchange of new knowledge in the field of digital avionics among professionals and students,” said Denise Ponchak, chair of the Digital Avionics Technical Committee. “We are proud to support four AIAA endowments because they will help ensure that the field of Digital Avionics continues to attract the best and brightest students who will become young professionals and shape the next generation of our field. We wish our scholarship recipients a successful future and look forward to the coming year and the opportunity to help even more students.”

Learn more about the AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship Program.

About AIAA 
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 85 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, www.aiaa.org, or follow us on Twitter @AIAA.

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 
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