Mon, Mar 14th, 2011

Shawn Yates, Hocking College Energy Institute student, has been named as one of 20 Phi Theta Kappa members selected as Guistwhite Scholarship recipients and will be recognized and invited to a special reception during the Phi Theta Kappa Convention in Seattle April 7-9, 2011.  He is the only Ohio recipient.

Guistwhite Scholars are chosen based on academic achievement, participation in Phi Theta Kappa programs and service to their colleges and communities. The 20 recipients for 2011 were selected by a panel of independent judges from more than 1,340 applicants to receive this scholarship, the second highest offered by Phi Theta Kappa. Each Guistwhite Scholar is awarded a medallion and a $5,000 scholarship for baccalaureate studies.

The Guistwhite Scholar Program is named in honor of Dr. Jack Guistwhite and his wife Margaret Guistwhite. Dr. Guistwhite established the first designated transfer scholarship for Phi Theta Kappa members at Florida Atlantic University in 1975. The Guistwhite Scholarships were established in 1992.

“Dr. Jack Guistwhite planted a seed in 1975 that resulted in more than 700 colleges and universities designating transfer scholarships for thousands of Phi Theta Kappa members,” said Phi Theta Kappa’s Executive Director Dr. Rod A. Risley. “It is fitting that we continue to honor our students who excel in scholarship and leadership in Phi Theta Kappa as Guistwhite Scholars in honor of Jack and his wife Margaret. Through their generosity and those who support scholarships through the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation, these students will receive funds to help them complete their degrees.”

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in American higher education with 1,270 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than 2.5 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 125,000 students inducted annually.