Flinn Scholars News

Thinking back to my freshman year as a Flinn Scholar, I remember feeling that one of the most exciting aspects of the Scholarship was the opportunity it afforded for international travel. I recall asking several of my new Flinn classmates at our first Orme retreat, "Where do you want to go?" It was during one such conversation that my Flinn classmate Steph Hartz and I discovered our common interest in exploring India and half-jokingly made a pact to visit it someday. Last summer, we were finally able to make good on our agreement.

Flinn alum Michelle Yang was selected by the Tucson chapter of the YWCA to receive its Women on the Move award. Yang was the youngest of the 13 women who received the honor.

Ajit Divakaruni ('01) was named one of 40 recipients of the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. Two other Flinn Scholars, Liz Dreeland and Michelle Hertzfeld, were included among the 17 finalists for the scholarship in the Los Angeles region, an honor that places them at the top of a pool of more than 90 applicants.

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.

High-achieving Arizona high school seniors are encouraged to apply for the 2006 Flinn Scholarship, a four-year award to an Arizona public university valued at more than $45,000. Applications are available online for the scholarships to be awarded next spring.

Flinn alumnus Jake Batsell ('92) was a member of a team of three journalists recently honored for their economic reporting by the Washington-based Institute on Political Journalism (IPJ).

Two incoming Flinn Scholars were among 12 Arizona high school students to take top honors at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Phoenix last week.

Flinn Scholar Renata Keller ('00) was one of 15 awarded a Fulbright teaching assistantship to Argentina, where she will work with a university professor of English language for eight months. This is the first year the Fulbright has given the TA awards for Argentina.

The Flinn Foundation Scholars Program will host a series of informational meetings for Arizona high school students throughout the month of March. The sessions will be held in Tucson, Yuma, Tempe, Flagstaff, and Phoenix, and will discuss the '05-'06 Scholarship (online application available in late August).

Before famed playwright Edward Albee delivered the 2004 ASU Centennial Lecture on 'the state of the arts,' a group of Flinn Scholars got a special audience with him. In addition to the public lecture during his four-day residence at the Barrett Honors College, Albee also participated in a private reception with the scholars and a more informal colloquium with ASU faculty and alumnus playwrights.

High-achieving Arizona high school seniors are encouraged to apply for the 2005 Flinn Scholarship, a four-year award to an Arizona public university valued at more than $40,000. Applications are available online for the scholarships to be awarded next spring.

Outgoing Flinn Scholars collected a cornucopia of awards at university graduation ceremonies in May 2004. Scholars took the top senior or graduate awards in seven departments and colleges at Arizona's public universities, and won three of the six overall achievement awards given by the University of Arizona.

Twenty of Arizona's premier high school seniors, heavily recruited by colleges and universities nationwide, have chosen to study in Arizona as Flinn Scholars. They will attend an Arizona public university in the fall on a scholarship that provides four years of study, academic-focused travel opportunities abroad, faculty mentorship, and other benefits.

Want current info on the Flinn Scholars program? Visit www.flinnscholars.org