A George Mason University senior has become the first recipient of the Nancy Murphy Endowed Scholarship.
Karan Kumar, an applied information technology major, applied for the scholarship after hearing about it in George Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP) office, where he works as an IT assistant.
The fund was created just seven months ago by Karen Rosenblum, former vice president of University Life, and Ellen Dawson, former director of Student Health Services, in honor of the late Nancy Murphy. Murphy, who was the former executive assistant to the vice president of University Life, worked at Mason for 22 years before retiring in 2012. She died in January after complications from cancer at age 70.
“Nancy was such a vibrant part of the university that we wanted her to be able to continue in the university in spirit,” Rosenblum said.
The fund gives scholarships to students who were a part of Mason’s Early Identification Program, which provides access to educational resources for middle and high school students in the Northern Virginia area who would be first-generation college students.
The ultimate goal is to fund the Nancy Murphy Endowed Scholarship with $50,000. From that fund, two annual scholarships of at least $1,000 will be awarded to a Mason junior or senior who completed Mason’s Early Identification program. The fund has been supported by a number of Murphy’s family, friends and former colleagues, and it is already halfway to its goal with $25,000 raised in the past seven months.
Kumar was awarded his scholarship on Saturday, Sept. 17.
9/29/2016 – CM