The Thomas O. Hunter Leadership Scholarships are annually awarded to engineering undergraduate or graduate student leaders. Tom Hunter is an active chair of the Engineering Leadership Institute Advisory Board. He spent his entire career at Sandia National Labs, and was serving as its president when he retired in 2010. He’s still very much involved in advising and lecturing on issues of national safety, energy, and nuclear non-proliferation, as well as promoting the importance of leadership in engineering. Dr. Hunter has made a gift to the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering to continue to recognize those who have displayed merit in the area of leadership. The Hunter Leadership Scholarship Awards are intended to highlight and award those who have displayed exceptional merit in leadership activities and academic scholarship.
Awards of these scholarships are made through the college process of selecting students who have applied to receive an undergraduate scholarship award.
Previous Scholarship Winners:
AY2021-22 | AY2020-2021 | AY2019-20 | AY2018-19 | AY2017-18 | AY2016-17 | AY2015-16
Criteria
- Minimum two years of University leadership experience in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering or otherwise (office or executive board of a student society, student group, student council, student government).
- Demonstrated dedication to the community around them (i.e., peer advisor, campus tour leader, volunteer, etc.).
- Dedication and commitment to leadership (i.e., years of service, increasing levels of responsibility, state/regional/national exposure)
- The scholarships are for use towards tuition/fees unless the student has received a scholarship/fellowship or other funding sources maximizing tuition/fee expenses. In that event, the funds will be allocated to the student without restrictions.
Eligibility
- Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering students.
- Junior and senior undergraduates, graduate and PhD students.
- Students with good academic standing.
- Full-time students.
- Minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA.
- Demonstrated financial need.
Nomination Process
- Call for nominations begins at the beginning of each Fall semester. Please check in with staff at the Engineering Leadership Institute for a nomination form.
- Nomination by department chair, graduate coordinator, graduate staff, undergraduate coordinator, and/or undergraduate staff.
- Maximum of two nominations per department. All faculty and staff should collaborate for department nominations.
- Departments nominating two students should rank the students as their first and second selection choices.
Requirements
- Nomination application.
- One faculty letter of recommendation in support of the nomination.
- Student statement of leadership. This is a one-page statement answering the question, “What does leadership mean to you?”
- Demonstrated financial need. Domestic students (U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents) complete the FAFSA for an official determination by Student Financial Affairs. International students complete the SFA Determination of Need Form for official determination by the nominating department.
Selection Process
The Engineering Leadership Institute will assemble a selection committee to review department nominations. The review and selection will be completed towards the end of the Fall semester. Scholarship funds are available for use for the following Spring term.