Six Caltech Female Graduate Students Win Educational Scholarships

PASADENA, Calif.-Six Caltech graduate students are the recipients of Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Awards. The women are Cynthia Chiang, concentrating in physics; Ann Marie Cody, in astrophysics; Adrienne Erickcek, physics; Dennice Gayme, control and dynamical systems; Neena Kadaba, chemistry; and Margarita Marinova, planetary science. The women are part of the 85 award recipients, selected from over 700 applicants. This is the first time Caltech has garnered six awards from this competition.

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to encourage and recognize scholarly excellence, academic achievement, and the potential to make significant contributions to a chosen field of endeavor. The awards provide educational support for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a graduate degree or are engaged in advanced study or graduate research. The $10,000 merit awards can be used to pursue educational goals, research interests, or other professional development.

The original P.E.O. Sisterhood was established in 1869 by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Initially a small campus friendship society, P.E.O. soon grew to include women off campus. Today, P.E.O. has almost a quarter of a million members in chapters throughout the United States and Canada. The primary mission of the sisterhood is still to encourage academic excellence in higher education and to "promote educational opportunities for women." ###

Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges (626) 395-3227 debwms@caltech.edu

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