Two IIT Students Named to Elite Group of Scholars
Two Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) students find themselves in an elite group of college science stars. Both were chosen as recipients in this years’ Chicago area Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholarship program.
John R. Edwardson, (Soph. Physics) and Tiffany N. Titus (Jr. Aerospace Engineering) were among 13 Chicago students honored in a special luncheon today. Edwardson and Titus were two of only three undergraduate students recognized this year. Both received a $5,000 cash award.
“They are the best of the best,” said Jocelyn Stoller, a founding member of the Chicago ARCS chapter, which has provided more than one million dollars to local college students since its formation in 1977. ARCS scholars must be U.S. citizens, maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and be enrolled as a full-time student, specializing in the natural sciences, engineering or medicine.
Edwardson, from Wyncote, Penn., is majoring in Physics at IIT and plans to earn both a Masters and PhD. He has special interest in astrophysics research. Along with his keen interest in science, Edwardson also enjoys music, technology, science fiction and fantasy literature. He is a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
Titus, a native of Fulton, Mich., is in IIT’s Aerospace Engineering program. She also plans to enter a doctoral program in Aerospace Engineering, Astronomy or Astrophysics. She is also contemplating a future career at the space agency, NASA.
As an amateur astronomer, Titus won a national award for research. She spent the last two summers at major U.S. observatories including the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, NM and the Institute for Astronomy, Hawaii.
The ARCS Foundation was created in 1958. Its 12 U.S. chapters provide scholarships to students pursuing science-related degrees. The ARCS mission also includes stemming the decline in American enrollment in graduate science and engineering programs
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
