University Park, Pa. -- Amanda Yeager, a Penn State student majoring in wildlife and fisheries science, has been awarded a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship for the 2004-05 academic year. Yeager will receive $5,000 to aid in her pursuit of the M.F.R. degree in wildlife and fisheries science.
This honor counts Yeager among 60 students nationwide to receive the Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship. Since its creation in 1932, the Graduate Fellowship Program has become one of the honor society's most visible and financially well-supported endeavors, allocating nearly $380,000 annually to deserving students for first-year graduate study.
The selection process for the fellowship is based on the applicant's undergraduate academic performance; leadership and service on the campus and in the community; evidence of graduate potential; personal statement of educational perspective, purpose and objective; and the evaluation reports from three individuals who are in a position to attest to the student's performance, citizenship and character.
Yeager is recognized for her outstanding academic record, which includes a conference presentation on her research under the direction of Gary San Julian, Penn State professor of wildlife resources, as well as her honors thesis, which focuses on wildlife management issues for farmers. Yeager is also lauded for her distinguished record of service, most notably for her volunteer work with the Penn State Arboretum and for the articles she has written about the Arboretum for its newsletter, the School of Forest Resources news magazine, a statewide trade magazine and the Arboretum's Web site.
Those who nominated Yeager praise her as one of the most capable students they have ever taught and extol her scholarship, poise, leadership abilities and communication skills.
Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and largest all-discipline honor society. The society is dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all fields of higher education. Phi Kappa Phi awards more than $500,000 annually to qualifying members through graduate and undergraduate scholarships, member and chapter awards, and grants for local and national literacy initiatives.