$103,000 to 10 finalists chosen as Women In Defense Scholars

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten women will share in $103,000 toward their studies as Women In Defense Scholars for the 2021-22 academic year, the Arlington, Virginia-based affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association announces today.

The funding, formerly called the Horizons Scholarship program, helps these women pursue education on the path to a career in defense or national security.

The WID Scholars are as follows:

Viviana Angelini will pursue a master's degree at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, with a focus on security policy and conflict resolution. She graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with a bachelor of arts degree in political science, a certificate in security studies and minors in Russian and international politics.

Naomie Baptiste is a master of business administration degree candidate at Howard University. She holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Florida State University and a program manager at Lockheed Martin Corp.

Tam Brewster, a mission assurance engineer at Ball Aerospace, holds a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the University of California Irvine and is pursuing her master of science degree in industrial engineering and engineering leadership from Northeastern University.

Michaela Coplen is a doctoral candidate in international relations at the Oxford University, where she received a master's degree in philosophy in 2020. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in international studies from Vassar College.

Elizabeth Doughty is an incoming doctoral student in exercise science at the University at Buffalo. She earned her master's degree in exercise and sport science from Merrimack College, and her bachelor's degree in athletic training from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Roni Fraser is a doctoral student in sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, where she specializes in disasters, environmental sociology and health. Fraser has a master's degree in sociology from Delaware and a bachelor of science degree in emergency administration and planning from the University of North Texas.

Allison Owen is a master of arts candidate for nonproliferation and terrorism studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, as well as for international affairs with a concentration in weapons of mass destruction nonproliferation, nuclear policy and global security at Moscow State Institute of International Relations University. She has a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas.

Madison Reed is a first-year doctoral student in chemical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In May, she graduated with honors from the University of Massachusetts' Lowell Plastics Engineering program, where she did research for the departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

Lauren Risany is a rising senior at Purdue University, where she studies aeronautical and astronautical engineering with a concentration in autonomy and control. She is a year-round intern at Sandia National Laboratories.

Nesrine Taha, national program manager of an international military construction program at the Army Corps of Engineers, is in her last year of her doctoral studies at the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Supported by the Women In Defense, her doctoral research is at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cyber-resilience and involves using AI to ensure smart military bases are protected from cyber intrusions.

Applications for the 2022-23 class of WID Scholars will open in late January 2022. Previous WID Scholars may apply. For more information, please visit www.womenindefense.net

For media queries, please contact Evamarie Socha at [email protected]

SOURCE National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)