Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 15, 2000 Amelia Earhart Scholarship revival
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The stalwart aviator would be proud to meet the two Purdue undergraduate women who received the 1999 and 2000 Amelia Earhart Scholarship awards and the accomplished women who made the monetary gifts possible, said Carolyn Gery, director of Purdue's President's Council.
Michelle Ludwig of Germantown, Tenn., is a May Purdue honors graduate who has been deaf since age 2. Elisha Priebe, a Purdue senior from Crawfordsville, Ind., with a 4.0 grade-point-average, is majoring in agricultural education. These women are the first two recipients of the award since its revival by a 1967 honoree of the scholarship.
The award was reinstituted after Doreen Buranich Simmons, a 1971 Purdue graduate, committed to see the scholarship return to Purdue after learning of its demise in the 1970s due to lack of funds.
Simmons, who is a New York attorney, funded the 1999 scholarship. Her gift became the catalyst for Joan Russell Dudding to honor the university and Amelia Earhart by funding the scholarship on an ongoing basis. A resident of Georgetown, Texas, Dudding is an honorary Boilermaker who wanted to ensure that the $1,000 scholarship would help other young people attain their goals.
"I'm not a Purdue graduate, but I am from Illinois and I had a couple of cousins who went to Purdue," Dudding said. "A friend and I traveled with the Purdue Glee Club the past few years and I am a member of the President's Council. I wanted to help Purdue in some way, and the Amelia Earhart Scholarship seemed like the right way. It honors a great woman who strove for equality, and it helps other young women achieve their own dreams."
Priebe said she is proud to receive the award and the association with Earhart.
"It's just an incredible honor because Amelia Earhart was such a terrific role model," Priebe said. "She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, and she made an effort to encourage other women to excel in life."
While Earhart developed plans for her 27,000-mile flight around the world in 1935-36, she served as a women's career counselor and an aeronautical advisor at Purdue. Earhart's first attempt to circle the earth in a single-engine plane failed in a runway crash at Honolulu. Her second attempt began June 1, 1937, with navigator Fred Noonan in a plane purchased by the Purdue Research Foundation. Her last recorded radio transmission was on July 2 of that year, and her disappearance remains a mystery.
"Amelia Earhart was such a strong woman, and I think we all have much to learn from her life," Priebe said.
The scholarship winner is selected by a committee. Eligible recipients must be a junior or senior studying in any field with a 3.2 GPA or better, and preference is given to women.
Sources: Elisha Priebe, (765) 942-2880, epriebe@purdue.edu
Joan Russell Dudding, (765) 864-0733
Carolyn Gery, (765) 494-2731, cgery@purdue.edu
Writer: Cynthia Sequin
Contact: Jesica Webb, (765) 494-2079; jwebb@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
Steven Beering, Purdue president-emeritus, stands with Joan Russell Dudding, Amelia Earhart Scholarship donor, and Elisha Priebe, recipient of the 2000 scholarship award. (Photo courtesy of Elisha Priebe)
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