News Release

Four Wilmington University Students Receive NASA Scholarships

Friday, September 04, 2009 - New Castle, DE

Four Wilmington University students were honored this month with the NASA Delaware Space Grant Consortium (DESGC) undergraduate scholarship. The scholarship of up to $3000 (funded by NASA) is awarded yearly to highly qualified undergraduate students in the state of Delaware who are studying science, technology, engineering, mathematics or geography.

Scott Golden, Lori Marinucci, Andrea Tribo and Jennifer Thomas are all very excited to be receiving the NASA scholarship this fall. Wilmington University will present an additional $2000 award to each student, making the total award for each student $5000.

The students applied for the scholarships by submitting an application, letters of recommendation, and a written statement describing their career plans and how they relate to the NASA mission.

“I am studying to be a middle school educator majoring in mathematics and social sciences,” said Scott Golden in his written statement, “It has been suggested that a 44-year-old person is too old to start a new career. I strongly disagree. NASA’s own John Glenn proved no one is too old to do something they love.” Golden went on to say that NASA’s goals of Employ, Educate, Engage and Inspire are goals that each educator should strive for. “Mathematics and science are education areas, like space, that are filled with worlds of discovery. Teachers are the developers of the next generation of explorers and thinkers.”

Lori Marinucci, also a Middle Level Education Math and Science student, wrote, “Without a strong foundation the house will crumble; without a mastery of basic math facts students will fail. I want to change that for my students...I want math to be interesting and exciting. I want to hear students say ‘I love math!”

A Middle Level Education major with a minor in Natural Science, Andrea Tribo wrote about her love of space as a child. “In 1996, after years of saving news clippings about space shuttle missions and astronauts, I finally got to go to Space Camp,” wrote Tribo, saying what a great experience it was. “No matter if I end up in a regular classroom, running a camp of my own, hanging trainees from a ceiling in a hang-gliding harness above a cargo-bay mock-up, or running education programs on hypergolic propellants; I plan to continue to make a difference in the lives of youth.”

“As a future math and science educator, I plan to educate my students in the many fields that NASA is committed to,” wrote Middle Level Math and Science major, Jennifer Thomas. “Throughout my education I have always been interested in math and science and decided to become an educator in the hopes of teaching students about my passions and having them become excited on the subjects, too.”

Wilmington University offers several majors for students interested in enhancing NASA’s mission. The Middle Level Education major allows students to concentrate in mathematics, science, and social science.The University also offers a Master of Education in Secondary Teaching with a concentration in Math and Science.

Additionally, the University offers several degrees in Information Technology including Computer Network Security, Information Resource Management, Web Information Systems and a Master of Science degree in Information Systems Technology.

“As the Wilmington University Consortium representative, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each of the scholarship recipients for their well deserved recognition," said John Burbage, PhD, Associate Professor and Science Coordinator at Wilmington University. “We wish each of them the greatest of success on their future career paths.”

Students interested in finding out more about the NASA Delaware Space Grant Consortium tuition scholarship should visit www.delspace.org. Or contact John Burbage at (302) 356-6835.
 

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