Roy G. Post Foundation announces new scholarship approach

The foundation is named after Roy G. Post, who was the founding chief executive of Waste Management Symposia. To date, the foundation has awarded scholarships to more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students from all around the world.

Details: The foundation has entered multiyear arrangements to provide funding to colleges and universities in South Carolina (near the Savannah River Site); Ohio (near the Portsmouth Site); Idaho (near Idaho National Laboratory); Tennessee (near Oak Ridge National Laboratory and associated sites); and New Mexico (near Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories). The following list of schools are included:

• South Carolina State University
• Aiken Technical College
• Claflin University
• Augusta University
• Shawnee State University
• Idaho State University
• College of Eastern Idaho
• University of Tennessee
• Tennessee State University
• Roane State Community College
• New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

The funding will be used to create new or help support existing scholarship opportunities for students interested in pursuing careers in the nuclear industry or radioactive waste management. For the first time, the foundation is also making available funding to support two-year institutions, such as Roane State Community College.

The funding comes in addition to the foundation’s continued efforts to provide competitively awarded scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students around the world who are interested in pursuing a career in nuclear.

They said it: “This new approach is intended to help grow the next-generation workforce the U.S. Department of Energy will need at its sites across the country to help advance the department’s essential national security, scientific research and environmental remediation efforts,” said Susan Stiger, president of Waste Management Symposia.

John Longenecker, chief executive officer of Longenecker & Associates, a primary benefactor of the foundation, noted, “By providing dedicated support to schools located near DOE sites, we hope that students interested in pursuing national security– and environmental remediation–related careers will want to utilize their education to aid the Department of Energy and take advantage of the opportunities proximity to Department sites can provide. We’re also excited to be supporting minority-serving institutions to help foster and grow a next-generation workforce that is inclusive and diverse to bring new ideas, new experiences, and new visions to the U.S. nuclear industry.”