The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has named 35 students to its Class of 2022.
Biographies of each new Park Scholar, listed by nation, state, and county, are available via PDF: Park Class of 2022
“The Park Foundation’s vision of investing in bright, service-minded leaders as a means to improving our world will continue to thrive with this newest cohort,” said Eva Feucht, director of the Park Scholarships program. “The Class of 2022 will bring their dedication to making a difference to a university that shares that commitment. NC State is grateful to the Park Foundation and many other donors whose support makes this possible.”
The Park Scholarships are named for the late Roy H. Park ’31, an NC State alumnus who created the charitable Park Foundation, dedicated to education, media, and the environment. In 1996, the Park Scholarships were established at NC State with a generous grant from the Park Foundation. To date, the Park Foundation has committed nearly $140 million to support the scholarship, including their September 2013 commitment of $50 million to begin an endowment at NC State. This endowment, with others’ support, will sustain the program in perpetuity.
The new class was selected from a pool of nearly 2,120 outstanding applicants from 43 states and 95 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. A Selection Committee comprising 335 accomplished NC State alumni, faculty, and friends conducted application review, interviews, and outreach.
The 23rd class, representing 8 U.S. states and 3 countries, includes student body presidents, varsity athletic team captains, Eagle Scouts, and National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Among this group are editors of school publications, dedicated employees of part-time jobs, environmental activists, a musician who performed at Carnegie Hall, a published photographer, and researchers of neurobiological changes in PTSD victims and of climate change impacts on local farmers. Their service work and philanthropic interests run the gamut: members of this cohort have volunteered with Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Best Buddies, the YMCA, United Way, and Ronald McDonald House. One created a virtual reality calm room for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, another is an Arabic interpreter for Syrian refugees and helps them assimilate to life in the United States, and several teach disadvantaged youth in their local communities.
The Park Scholarships program brings exceptional students to NC State University based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The program develops and supports Park Scholars in these areas, preparing them for lifelong contributions to the campus, state, nation, and world.
Park Scholarships include opportunities for innovative enrichment activities such as grants for undergraduate research and study abroad, making this award one of the most prestigious and comprehensive undergraduate scholarships in the nation.
posted 2018.05.01