TACOMA, Wash. – Rebecca Ebert, of Eden Prairie, Minn., and Kieran O’Neil, of Fairbanks, Alaska, have been named University of Puget Sound Lillis Scholars, honoring them with the college’s most prestigious award for students who show extraordinary promise in academics and scholarship.
Lillis Scholars are recognized by Puget Sound for their academic excellence, passionate interest in ideas, intellectual independence, and promise of excellence throughout their undergraduate years and beyond. The annual awards are funded by a generous gift from Gwendolyn H. Lillis P’05 and Charles M. Lillis P’05, made through The Lillis Foundation to Puget Sound’s $125 million One [of a Kind] comprehensive campaign.
Thirty students are invited to apply each year to become Lillis Scholars, out of a pool of about 7,000 applicants to Puget Sound. Ebert and O’Neil will become part of a cohort of 10 Lillis Scholars named since the program began in 2007. The Lillis Scholarship covers the cost of tuition, room, and board for up to four years of undergraduate education at University of Puget Sound.
Rebecca Ebert (Eden Prairie, Minnesota)
Becca Ebert is a Commended National Merit Scholar and an AP Scholar with Distinction. She was co-president of the Environmental Club and co-captain of the ultimate Frisbee team at Eden Prairie High School, where she maintained a 4.0 GPA.
Ebert is a student commissioner on the Eden Prairie Conservation Commission and is active with FACE AIDS, an organization that raises money to fight HIV/AIDS. She also helps to raise awareness of international issues through her efforts with Amnesty International. She notes that Amnesty International “embodies everything I believe humans should be: knowledgeable and active.”
A world traveler who has visited all seven continents, including more than 40 countries, Ebert is passionate about international issues. She works to protect the environment and is dedicated to informing others about recycling and sustainability. At Puget Sound Ebert is interested in pursuing courses dealing with international relations.
Kieran O’Neil (Fairbanks, Alaska)
Kieran O’Neil attended West Valley High School, where she was an AP Scholar. She graduated summa cum laude with a cumulative GPA of 4.3 and was salutatorian of her graduating class. She participated in cross country running, soccer, and skiing. O’Neil is involved in community service through the National Honor Society and acts onstage with her community theater.
A student of biology, she studied worms, their habitat in the kelp forest, and their effect on the ecosystem for the Alaska Statewide High School Science Symposium. She was named a finalist and attended the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in San Diego to present her work.
Over the last few summers, O’Neil attended The Alaska Summer Research Academy (ASRA) where she studied marine biology and built an underwater robot fish named MAX (Motorized Aquatic Xenocanth). She also worked with ASRA to promote science and higher education in the remote Alaskan villages of McGrath and Takotna. O’Neil hopes to study biology and environmental science at Puget Sound.
About the Lillis Scholar Program
The Lillis Scholar Program was established through a generous gift made by The Lillis Foundation of Castle Rock, Colo., to recognize academic excellence and encourage intellectual independence. Gwen Lillis is chair of The Lillis Foundation, a University of Puget Sound trustee, and trustee of the University of Oregon Foundation. Charles Lillis is former chair and chief executive of MediaOne Group and founding partner of LoneTree Capital Management. The Lillises are the parents of Puget Sound alumna Jessica Baker Isaacs ’05. Each year two Lillis Scholars are selected from the incoming freshman class.
For information about eligibility for the Lillis Scholar program, contact the Office of Admission at 800.396.7191 or visit www.pugetsound.edu/scholarships.
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