August 2, 1999

Scholarship program marks 10 years of support for re-entry women in science and engineering

By Tim Stephens

Thanks to one family's generosity, women who return to school to pursue a career in the sciences have a valuable and much-needed resource at UCSC. The Marilyn C. Davis Memorial Scholarships for Re-entry Women in Science and Engineering have provided support to 41 talented women scientists since the scholarship was established in 1990. This year 11 students received awards from the endowed fund.

The scholarships are available to UCSC re-entry women (undergraduates who are 25 and older and graduate students who are 29 and older) who are majoring in the sciences or engineering. A total of 53 awards amounting to more than $33,000 have been distributed over the past 10 years as professional development awards.

Linda Anderson, a re-entry student who received her undergraduate and graduate science degrees at UCSC, and her husband Bill established the scholarship fund in memory of Linda Anderson's mother, Marilyn C. Davis. Davis was herself a re-entry student after raising five children.

Anderson and her family have been extremely generous in their support for the scholarships, donating money for the awards and also establishing an endowment fund to provide financial stability and growth for the awards in the future, said professor and chair of ocean sciences Margaret Delaney, who serves as the faculty representative on the selection committee for the awards.

The scholarship fund was set up to provide two types of grants: professional development awards and urgent need funds. Professional development awards can be used to support activities such as field research, publication of articles, and presentations at conferences. Funds are also available to students who have immediate, urgent financial needs related to their education.

The 1999 scholarship recipients are:

• Nicole Beck, a Ph.D. candidate in earth sciences
• Irene Beers, a Ph.D. candidate in biology
• Gwynne Corrigan, a master's student in biology
• Jonna Engel, a Ph.D. candidate in biology
• Myra Finkelstein, a master's student in marine sciences
• Shinar Kouranbaeva, a Ph.D. candidate in mathematics
• Kathi Lefebvre, a Ph.D. candidate in biology
• Jennifer Ostrowski, a master's student in earth sciences
• Yvonne Rodriguez, an undergraduate student in physics
• Archita Sengupta, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry
• Diana Steller, a Ph.D. candidate in biology

For more information about the Marilyn C. Davis Memorial Scholarships for Re-entry Women in Science, contact Corinne Miller, Re-entry Student Services, at (831) 459-4968 or corky@cats.ucsc.edu.

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