The Alvin M. Ferst Leadership & Entrepreneur Award
$3,000
The Division of Student Life is pleased to announce the availability of The Alvin M. Ferst Leadership and Entrepreneur Award. This $3,000 award goes to a JUNIOR or SENIOR with at least a 2.5 GPA who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and/or entrepreneurial skills while at Tech.
The Alvin M. Ferst Leadership and Entrepreneur Award will be recognized at the Student Honors Celebration on Thursday, April 24, 2025..
Qualities of the Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate would be:
- A person of vision
- A driving force to create a business or organization
- An inspiration to others to reach their potential
- A leader with the ability to anticipate future needs
- An optimist about finding solutions
- One who generates support of the dream
- And a person of character who says, “why not,” not “why.”
Applications must include a one-page cover letter describing qualifications for the award along with resume and two letters of reference submitted to http://studentlife.gatech.edu/
The letters of reference must be from Faculty, Staff and/or Employer, and can either be submitted with the cover letter and resume or sent directly to ferstaward@studentlife.gatech.edu
The letters of reference should address:
- Leadership qualities of the candidate with examples, and/or
- Entrepreneurship achievements of the applicant, and
- Why this student is worthy of the recommendation.
The deadline to submit application is Monday, March 3, 2025 – 1:00pm. Finalists will be notified and interviewed by the Ferst Award selection committee following the submission deadline.
Questions - Contact Debbie Dorsey, Director of Administration for Student Life debbie.dorsey@studentlife.gatech.edu or 404-385-1562
The Alvin M. Ferst Leadership and Entrepreneurship award was established by Charlotte Ferst to honor her husband, Alvin, who graduated from Georgia Tech in 1943. Alvin Ferst was a member of the Alumni Association Board and the Georgia Tech Foundation for decades. The Ferst family name has a long tradition on the Georgia Tech campus and the scholarship will assure the family’s involvement in perpetuity.
Alvin M. Ferst Leadership and Entrepreneur Award Winners
- Jason Juang and Christine Webster
2024 - Usman Jamal and Maeve Janecka
2023 - Adam Lederer and Chris Ozgo
2022 - Thomas S. Marchese and Marion 'Duke' Hatcher
2021 - Genevieve Onyiuke-Kennedy and Ananya (Jane) Jain
2020 - Jhillika Kumar and Collin Spencer
2019 - Mahdi Al-Husseini, Brenna Fromayan, and Jake Smith
2018 - Arjun Bir and Kaitlin Rizk
2017 - Alexandra Flohr, Titilayo Funso, and Henderson Johnson
2016 - Rachel Kathlyn Ford and Dillon Roseen
2015 - Chibueze J. Ihenacho and James William Schwoebel
2014 - Cecili A.B. Reid and Vett Vandiver
2013 - Elizabeth Blumer, Jasmine Lawrence, and Chris Quintero
2012 - Christopher Blackburn, Corey T. Boone, Melissa Loreice McCoy, and Jerica M. Richardson
2011 - Shruti Batra, Matthew Stellmaker, and Cameron Trent Mao
2010 - Garrett Langley and Ranni Tewfik
2009 - Richard Schanda
2008 - Angela R. Gill, Sung Woo Choi, Orion A. King, and John D. Waters, Jr.
2007 - Charles Wiley, Shannon Fatehi, Saira Amir, and J.P. James
2006 - Laura M. Grosch
2005 - Keith Benjamin Lawder
2004 - Daniel White
2003 - George (Trey) Baltz, III
2002 - Joseph Stephen Katzen
2001 - L. Christopher Young
2000 - Scott W. Jackson
1999 - Jennifer Stokes
1998 - Meredith Moore
1997