At last week’s Engineering Leadership Summit, hosted in conjunction with the women of the Committee of 200, several scholarship awards were presented to students who have demonstrated strong leadership abilities – several more than were expected.
As part of their investment of the “Transforming the Future as Women” conversation that took place on the UF campus, C200 gave out three $10,000 scholarships to graduate student leaders nominated by department chairs and representing each of the college’s main programs. The eleven young women were interviewed extensively the day before the Summit. When C200 chair Roz Alford and members Sally Walker Guthrie and Linda Hudson took the podium they announced the three winners:
- Deja Jackson, Civil & Coastal Engineering
- Lindsay Mullen, Industrial & Systems Engineering
- Regina Rodriguez, Environmental Engineering Sciences
Hudson continued the awards presentation with a surprising twist. She announced that all the women she helped interview were so remarkable that she had decided to personally award the runners-up with $5,000 each. Those additional eight winners:
- Jasmine Bowers, Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering
- Shannon Brown, Biomedical Engineering
- Morgan Harding, Chemical Engineering
- Jessica Kelley, Nuclear Engineering Sciences
- Shuaibu Mubarakat, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
- Tiffany Reagan, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
- Madeline Sciullo, Electrical & Computer Engineering
- Laura Villada, Materials Science & Engineering
In addition, the Linda Parker Hudson Engineering Leadership Awards were presented at a special luncheon to recognize members of the Student Leadership Advisory Board of the UF Engineering Leadership Institute. Ms. Hudson established this fund in 2008 in order provide experiential learning opportunities in leadership for students outside of the their normal studies in engineering. This award recognizes her stellar example of engineering leadership and the ways she exemplifies what it means to be a Gator Engineer. This year’s winners:
- Megan Carr, Environmental Engineering Sciences
- Brittney Lane, Aerospace Engineering and Astronomy
Hudson is an active member of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board and the UF Engineering Leadership Institute Advisory Board. She is a UF Distinguished Alumnus and holds an honorary doctorate of science.
Also at the luncheon, the Thomas O. Hunter Leadership Scholarships were awarded to engineering undergraduate and graduate student leaders. Tom Hunter is an active chair of the UF 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’s gift to the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering helps recognize and support students every year who have displayed merit in the area of leadership and academic scholarship. This year’s winners:
- Shannon Brown, Biomedical Engineering
- Ian Hahus, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
- Jason Ortiz, Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering
- Regina Rodriguez, Environmental Engineering Sciences
- Giovanni de la Torre, Electrical & Computer Engineering