Improving the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations.
Twenty of Arizona's premier high school seniors, heavily recruited by colleges and universities nationwide, have chosen to study in Arizona as Flinn Scholars. Each will attend an Arizona public university in the fall on a scholarship that provides four years of study, academic-focused travel abroad, faculty mentorship, and other benefits. The package is valued at more than $50,000.
A few years ago Dan Tuttle ('02) sat down at his computer and opened up a new file on his hard drive. He titled it, "ideas that change the world.doc." Now this University of Arizona senior has landed a major award to help him turn those ideas into action.
Since the inception of the Flinn Foundation's Eastern Europe Seminar six years ago, Therese Buchmeier has been the familiar face that always greets the freshmen upon their arrival in Hungary.
Both Ruben Alonzo and Sarah McDonald came close to leaving Arizona after graduating high school. But when they received the Flinn Scholarship, each decided to stay in-state. Today, both Scholars, who have achieved enormous success in their respective fields, say that not only do they have no regrets; they cannot imagine having made a different decision.
Melissa Lamberton ('05) and Andy Lowe ('96) were honored at the 2005 Governor's Celebration for Innovation. Lowe was celebrated as a member of DMetrix, recognized as the 2005 Innovator of the Year Start-Up Company. Lamberton, a freshman at University of Arizona, was one of four high school students named "Future Innovator of the Year."
Megan McGinnity won Arizona State University's prestigious Circumnavigators Scholarship to travel around the world studying the economics of human trafficking. After finishing her study abroad program in Romania, she will travel to Washington, D.C., Belgium, Ghana, Rwanda, India, Cambodia, and Costa Rica.
Flinn Scholars discussed legal issues over lunch Nov. 19 with Kathleen Sullivan, a law professor and former dean of Stanford Law School. A 1985 endowment from the Flinn Foundation established the lecture series, which brings a noted speaker to ASU's Tempe campus each fall to give a public lecture and interact with students.
College is a time of self-discovery when students learn what it is they love to do and then give their all to it. For many, and especially for Flinn Scholars, travel serves as the vehicle that transports them on this journey . But where the road ultimately leads varies from Scholar to Scholar. For some, such as Megan McGinnity ('03), uncovering what lights the spark within requires leaving the familiar and seeking outward; for others, like Alan Wang ('03), the road leads back home, to where one can draw upon the strength of one's own roots.
Paul Rhatigan ('00) has received the Gates-Cambridge Scholarship, a highly competitive award that funds two years of study at the University of Cambridge. Rhatigan, who studied at Cambridge last year, will use the Gates-Cambridge scholarship to conduct nanotechnology research at the doctorate level. He began the research last year while earning his master's degree in engineering.
For information about Flinn Scholars, please contact:
flinnscholars@flinn.org or (602) 744-6802
