This year’s Via Scholars include some of the country’s most exceptional students in a variety of civil and environmental engineering specialties. This year, there are 14 new scholars and 27 returning Via Scholars. Via Scholarships are made possible through the generosity of the late Mrs. Marion Bradley Via of Roanoke, Va., and her family. In 1987, Mrs. Via contributed $5 million each to the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering. Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors subsequently named the ECE department in honor of Mrs. Via’s deceased father, Harry Lynde Bradley, and the CEE department in honor of her late husband, Charles E. Via, Jr.
Both departments use a portion of the endowment to award scholarships to qualifying students. These scholarships are among the most competitive in the country. Since the Via endowment was created in 1987, the department has awarded more than $16 million in scholarships and fellowships. Each year, the department holds a banquet to recognize these individuals for their hard work and contributions.
The Via Scholars for 2015-2016 are:
Julia Baaklini – Geotechnical
Libby Bales – Environmental and Water Resources
Thomas Barham – Geotechnical
Matthew Blair – Environmental and Water Resources
Paul Bender – Environmental and Water Resources
Ayrton Bryan – Environmental and Water Resources
Thomas Dacanay – Structural
Paige Emanivong – Civil Infrastructure
Fred Falcone – Geotechnical
Samuel Ferrara – Construction
Chloe Greenberg – Environmental and Water Resources
Isaac Groshek – Structural
Alexander Kormanos – Geotechnical
Christine Pankow – Environmental and Water Resources
Gage Pepin – Structural
James Reilly – Structural
Gordon Stone – Geotechnical
Laurel Strom – Environmental and Water Resources
Trevor Szabo – Structural
Haseeb Tahir – Structural
John Ward – Structural
Robert Williams – Environmental and Water Resources
Samson Zhilyaev – Environmental and Water Resources
Marcus Aguilar – Environmental and Water Resources
G. Allen Bowers – Geotechnical
Lake Carter – Geotechnical
Emily Garner – Environmental and Water Resources
Kathryn Gunberg – Geotechnical
Ardalan Khosrowpour – Construction
Brett Maurer – Geotechnical
Ross McCarthy – Transportation
Maria Nieves-Melendez – Construction
Adam Phillips – Structural
Alex Reeb – Geotechnical
William Rhoads – Environmental and Water Resources
Colin Richards – Environmental and Water Resources
Craig Schillber – Geotechnical
Stephanie Smallegan – Environmental and Water Resources
Kristin Ulmer – Geotechnical