New Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship to Benefit Health Care Students
Washington, D.C. - At a time when most health care professions are experiencing
significant worker shortages and need is growing, community colleges
and businesses are teaming up to support future graduates in key health
care professions.
This month, the American Association of
Community Colleges (AACC) and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, with the generous
support of METI and L-3 Communications, Inc., will launch the Frank Lanza
Memorial Scholarship Program. This timely initiative is designed to recognize
the academic and leadership accomplishments of students enrolled in registered
nursing, respiratory care or emergency medical service programs offered
by regionally accredited community colleges. Up to twenty-five scholarships
of $1,000 each will be awarded for the 2010 academic year.
The
scholarships will target part-time, full-time and international students
who have completed 50 percent of their course work leading toward achieving
an associate degree and who have a demonstrable financial need (certificate
students are not eligible to apply). Candidates do not have to be members
of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society to apply.
The scholarship is
named in honor of Frank Lanza, a founder of L-3 Communications - a global
aerospace and defense company -- that produces $15 billion in annual revenues
and employs over 66,000 people worldwide. The scholarship endowment is
funded equally by L-3 Communications and Medical Education Technologies,
Inc. (METI), the world's leading producer of medical simulation products
and educational software for health care education. In creating the endowment,
Lou Oberndorf, METI Chairman and 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.
For
more information about the Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship Program,
call 601/984.3539. Visit the website
for complete requirements and downloadable applications.
Completed
applications must be mailed in one packet and be received (not postmarked)
on or before Oct. 15, 2009 at Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters, Attn: Frank Lanza
Memorial Scholarship, 1625 Eastover Drive, Jackson, MS 39211.
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 (44 percent) of all U.S.
undergraduates.
Headquartered in Jackson, Miss., Phi Theta
Kappa is the largest honor society in higher education, with 1,250 chapters
on college campuses in the 50 U.S. 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.
