Leah Goldberg at University of Connecticut Awarded Jo Anne J. Trow National Scholarship

Dr. Susan Melson Huffman, National President of Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society for First Year Students, announced that a Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship in the amount of $1000 has been awarded to Leah Goldberg, a student at the University of Connecticut, for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Founded in 1924 at the University of Illinois by Dean Maria Leonard, Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes and encourages academic excellence among first year students.  Since its inception, the Society has grown to find homes on over 250 campuses throughout the United States, and has inducted over 850,000 members in its 85-year history. This year, the Society recognized over 30,000 new members, inviting students who have earned grades in the top 20% of their first-year class.

Each year, National Alpha Lambda Delta awards at least 35 Trow scholarships to outstanding students across the country. The competition is open to any sophomore member of the Society who has maintained the required 3.5 GPA. Selection is based on academic records, participation in Alpha Lambda Delta activities, applicants’ statements, and campus and community activities.

For the 2009 competition, the national selection committee reviewed more than 110 strong applications, submitted by over 60 local chapters. “This year’s applicant pool was the largest ever, and selecting 35 winners from such a large group of outstanding students was, as always, a challenge,” said the chair of the Trow Scholarship Selection Committee, former National President James G. Stemler.

The Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship was started in 1988, in honor of a past National President of Alpha Lambda Delta. Jo Anne J. Trow is the former Vice-President for Student Services at Oregon State University. She served National Alpha Lambda Delta as a District Advisor from 1974 to 1979, as National Secretary from 1979 to 1983, as President-elect from 1984 to 1985, and as National President from 1985 to 1988. During her presidency, the Society’s governing body, the National Council, was restructured to provide more streamlined operation. This award was originally established to give chapters of Alpha Lambda Delta an annual opportunity to reward an outstanding sophomore member with a small stipend. During the Society’s 75th anniversary year, 1999, the National Organization began offering 26 annual $1,000 awards, and has since increased the number of annual awards to 35 and increased the value of ten awards to $3,000.