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For release: 07/16/02
Release #: 02-179
Decatur native Pooja Aggarwal wins grant from NASA College Scholarship Fund
Decatur, Ala., native Pooja Aggarwal has been awarded a NASA 2002 Engineering & Science Scholarship.
Aggarwal, the valedictorian of her 2002 graduating class of 252 students at Austin High School in Decatur, has received a $2,000 annually renewable grant from the NASA College Scholarship Fund, Inc.
Decatur, Ala., native Pooja Aggarwal has been awarded a NASA 2002 Engineering & Science Scholarship.
Aggarwal, the valedictorian of her 2002 graduating class of 252 students at Austin High School in Decatur, has received a $2,000 annually renewable grant from the NASA College Scholarship Fund, Inc.
The fund, established in 1982 and based at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, awards grants to dependents of current and former NASA employees. To qualify, applicants must be pursuing a course of study in a science or engineering field at a college or university within the United States, and carry a grade point average of at least a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale during their high school career.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James A. Michener established the fund through an unsolicited gift in admiration of NASA’s support of education in this country. Since 1982, 103 scholarships have been awarded to NASA dependents. Currently, 27 students are receiving aid through the program.
Aggarwal will study this fall at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, where she will major in the pre-medicine program.
Aggarwal’s high school years were marked by many successes, including a 4.0 grade point average throughout her four years. She took numerous honors classes and advanced placement math and science classes. Her academic awards included the Youth Leadership Award for Alabama in 2000, the American Legion Oratorical Award, the Imagination Creativity Award for work in the dramatic arts, and membership in the National Honor Society.
Outside the classroom, Aggarwal was an active member of the Austin student body. She served as vice president and secretary of the student body, president of the Spanish Club and student representative on the school accreditation committee. Her other in-school activities included the Art Club, Key Club, math team, Scholars Bowl and membership on the varsity tennis team.
Aggarwal also served in her community. She was the Youth Leadership Ambassador for the state in her sophomore year and took part in the 2000 summer research program at the University of Alabama in Birmingham Medical Center. She was also involved in Habitat for Humanity, the Morgan County Youth Leadership Camp, and showed some of her original artwork in local hospitals and television station studios.
Aggarwal is the daughter of Pravin and Prabha Aggarwal of Decatur. Pravin is a team leader in the Structures Mechanics and Thermal Department in the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
For more information and contacts for the NASA College Scholarship Fund, please contact the NASA College Scholarship office at (281) 483-7463.
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