University Park, Pa. -- A scholarship fund endowed by Penn State alumnus Sung Lee and his wife, Fumi, will provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding graduate and undergraduate students from Asian countries.
The initial principal donation of $100,000 for the Sung and Fumi Lee Scholarship Endowment was pledged by the donors this past summer. The scholarships are intended to help Asian students who need funds to meet necessary college expenses or who need additional financial support to complete their program of study at the University.
Sung Lee, who graduated in 1989 with a B.S. in marketing, is investment manager/vice president with Capital Group Company in Tokyo, Japan, and serves as fund manager for the American Fund. He is an avid football fan who often returns for games and hopes to bring his wife to campus for her first game soon.
Sung is Korean-American and Fumi is Japanese, which helped provide their motivation to support Asian students at Penn State.
The first such scholarship endowed at Penn State, funds from the Sung and Fumi Lee Scholarship Endowment will be awarded with first preference to students from South Korea. In 2003, 585 of the 4,108 international students at Penn State were Korean. Subsequent preference is given to students from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and Taiwan. More than 65% of international students at the University are Asian, and the founding of this endowment fund is doubly appropriate given the sometimes volatile nature of the economy in that part of the world.
Recipients of these scholarships will be selected by a scholarship committee convened by Penn State International Programs. The committee will determine the number of scholarships to be granted each year and the amounts per award. Scholarships will be for one academic year and may be renewed for subsequent years, provided the recipient continues to meet the conditions of eligibility and funds are available.