25 Health Care Students Named First Recipients of Frank Lanza Scholarships

WASHINGTON, May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, with the generous support of METI and L-3 Communications, Inc., have announced the first 25 recipients of the Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship Program. The scholarships recognize the accomplishments of students enrolled in allied health programs offered by regionally accredited community colleges. Twenty-five students received scholarships of $1,000 each.

The scholarships target part-time, full-time and international students who have completed 50% of their course work leading toward achieving an associate degree and who demonstrated financial need. Candidates did not have to be members of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society to apply. A panel of independent judges selected the recipients by application based on academic and leadership accomplishments as well as community service.

Most of the 2010 award recipients are enrolled in registered nursing programs. Three recipients are studying respiratory care. On December 4, 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the healthcare sector of the economy is continuing to grow, despite significant job losses in nearly all major industries. Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other ambulatory care settings added 21,000 new jobs in November 2009, a month when 85,000 jobs were eliminated across the country. Community colleges educate 63 percent of allied health professionals.  

The recipients of the 2010 Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarships are (* notes membership in Phi Theta Kappa):

*Amber Onyan, Arizona Western College, Arizona

*Reuben Payte, National Park Community College, Arkansas

*Lamanda Boyd, University of Arkansas Community College at Hope, Arkansas

 Pelaghia Rosca, American River College, California

*Janie Rigsby, Mount San Jacinto College, California

*April McGrath, Gateway Community College, Connecticut

*Stephanie Crickmore, Goodwin College, Connecticut

*Joy Jackson, Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana

*Patricia Kulm, Vincennes University, Indiana

*Adam Lindstrom, Harry S Truman College, Illinois

*Stacy Dillard, Sauk Valley Community College, Illinois

*Magdalene Tanyi  Epse Ayuk, Wayne County Community College, Michigan

*Keri Pastika, Hibbing Community College, Minnesota

*Vanessa Almanzar, Bronx Community College, New York

*Amina Ali, Kingsborough Community College, New York

*Marcella Mohamed, Kingsborough Community College, New York

*Sherrelyn Novitsky, Kingsborough Community College, New York

*April Vroman, Mohawk Valley Community College, New York

*Elizabeth McPhee, Portland Community College, Oregon

*Julie Telesz, Butler County Community College, Pennsylvania

*Ervan Dickens, Community College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

*Carl Laguerre, Community College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 Lindi Carter, Motlow State Community College, Tennessee

 Shannon Mojica, South Puget Sound Community College, Washington

*Lenora Parr, Western Technical College, Wisconsin

The scholarship is named in honor of Frank Lanza, founder of L-3 Communications, a global aerospace and defense company that produces $15 billion in annual revenues and employs close to 66,000 people worldwide. The scholarship endowment is funded equally by L-3 Communications and Medical Education Technologies (METI), one of 73 operating units of L-3. In creating the endowment, Lou Oberndorf, METI CEO and a long-time friend of Lanza, cited Lanza's visionary leadership and commitment to charitable causes as inspiration for the program.

Lanza served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Korean War. He was a member of the board of directors for the Coast Guard Foundation and received the 2003 Distinguished Corporate Leadership award from the Soldiers', Sailors', Marines' and Airmen's Club. Lanza was also a member of the board of governors for the Aerospace Industries Association and the American-Italian Cancer Foundation. A philanthropist, Lanza and his wife supported a variety of charities through a family foundation.

Based in Washington, D.C., AACC is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely with directors of state offices to inform and to affect state policy. AACC represents almost 1,200 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and more than 11 million students. Community colleges are the largest and fastest-growing sector of U.S. higher education, enrolling close to half (43 percent) of all U.S. undergraduates.

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,250 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than two million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 100,000 students inducted annually.

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges