Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, has received a $500,000 grant from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation to support students pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The scholarships will be available to students from Ohio and neighboring states including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan. Over the next five years, $100,000 will be distributed annually.
Kenyon President Julie Kornfeld highlighted the importance of STEM education within a liberal arts framework. "STEM education is an integral part of a modern liberal arts education," she said. "This support will help bring the best and brightest from Ohio and surrounding states to Kenyon."
Currently, 30% of Kenyon's student body majors in the sciences. Students have access to advanced teaching labs for individual and collaborative research projects. Each summer, about 50 students engage in scientific research on campus under faculty mentorship from various departments such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics.
The new scholarships are named the Austin E. Knowlton Memorial Scholarships. This initiative continues a tradition of support from the Knowlton Foundation since 2014 when it established an endowed scholarship fund at Kenyon for students interested in mathematics.
The foundation's namesake, Austin E. "Dutch" Knowlton, was a prominent Ohio businessman who aimed to assist Ohioans in obtaining degrees from local colleges and universities.
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