Roy G. Post Foundation announces 2026 WM scholarships

Committed to advancing education and nurturing future leaders in radioactive waste management and nuclear fields, the foundation is named after the founding chief executive of WM Symposia, host of the annual international Waste Management conference (WM2026) in Phoenix, Ariz.

Since its inception, the foundation has provided more than $2.5 million in graduate and undergraduate scholarships to more than 450 students from around the world.

This year’s scholarship recipients will be recognized at the Next Generation Workforce student awards and reception on March 9 at WM2026. Scholarship recipients will also receive an all-expense paid trip to WM2026, to be held March 8–12, courtesy of WM Symposia.

Memorial scholarships: This year, the Roy G. Post Foundation is giving four named memorial scholarships: two Lance Metzga Memorial Scholarships and two James Gallagher Memorial Scholarships. Lance Metzga was a long-term WM Symposia board member, program advisory committee member, and WM Symposia Fellow. James Gallagher was a former WM Symposia president, chair of the WM Symposia board of directors, and a WM Symposia Fellow. Both were long-term supporters of the next generation of professionals.

The winners: This year’s scholarship recipients are students at the following institutions.

• Aiken Technical College (Aiken, S.C.)
• Augusta University (Augusta, Ga.)
• Benedictine University (Lisle, Ill.)
• Claflin University (Orangeburg, S.C.)
• Clemson University (Clemson, S.C.)
• College of Eastern Idaho (Idaho Falls, Idaho)
• College of St. Scholastica (Duluth, Minn.)
• Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colo.)
• Columbia Basin College (Pasco, Wash.)
• Columbia University (New York, N.Y.)
• Cranfield University (Cranfield, U.K.)
• Dona Ana Community College (Las Cruces, N.M.)
• Florida International University (Miami, Fla.)
• George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.)
• Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Dresden, Germany)
• Heritage University (Toppenish, Wash.)
• Idaho State University (Pocatello, Idaho)
• Illinois State University (Normal, Ill.)
• Jackson State University (Jackson, Miss.)
• Jamk University of Applied Sciences (Jyväskylä, Finland)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.)
• Mississippi State University (Starkville, Miss.)
• Murray State University (Murray, Ky.)
• New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Socorro, N.M.)
• New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, N.M.)
• North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, N.C.)
• Northern New Mexico College (Espanola, N.M.)
• Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
• Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.)
• Roane State Community College (Harriman, Tenn.)
• Rutgers University (New Brunswick, N.J.)
• San Jose State University (San Jose, Calif.)
• Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio)
• Tennessee College of Applied Technology (Tenn.)
• Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tenn.)
• University of Bristol (Bristol, U.K.)
• University of California–Berkeley (Berkeley, Calif.)
• University of California–Irvine (Irvine, Calif.)
• University of Central Florida (Orange County, Fla.)
• University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio)
• University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland)
• University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho)
• University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign (Urbana-Champaign, Ill.)
• University of Manchester (Manchester, U.K.)
• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
• University of Nevada–Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nev.)
• University of Nevada–Reno (Reno, Nev.)
• University of New Mexico–Los Alamos (Los Alamos, N.M.)
• University of Sheffield (Sheffield, U.K.)
• University of Tennessee–Knoxville (Knoxville, Tenn.)
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Va.)
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Va.)
• Washington State University (Pullman, Wash.)

All scholarships, including the memorial scholarships, were made possible through donations from the JB Longenecker Foundation, the Longenecker Challenge Supporters, and WM Symposia.

The Longenecker Challenge, started in 2019 by Bonnie and John Longenecker, encouraged 10 of the scholarships that are being awarded through the Longenecker Challenge Supporters: Fluor and N3B Los Alamos, N3B’s parent companies HII Nuclear (a Huntington Ingalls Industries subsidiary) and BWX Technologies, and its subcontractors Longenecker & Associates: A Geosyntec Company and Tech2 Solutions.