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
2024 - Jason Juang and Christine Webster
2023 - Usman Jamal and Maeve Janecka
2022 – Adam Lederer and Chris Ozgo
2021 – Thomas S. Marchese and Marion 'Duke' Hatcher
2020 – Genevieve Onyiuke-Kennedy and Ananya (Jane) Jain
2019 – Jhillika Kumar and Collin Spencer
2018 – Mahdi Al-Husseini, Brenna Fromayan, and Jake Smith
2017 – Arjun Bir and Kaitlin Rizk
2016 – Alexandra Flohr, Titilayo Funso, and Henderson Johnson
2015 – Rachel Kathlyn Ford and Dillon Roseen
2014 – Chibueze J. Ihenacho and James William Schwoebel
2013 – Cecili A.B. Reid and Vett Vandiver
2012 – Elizabeth Blumer, Jasmine Lawrence, and Chris Quintero
2011 – Christopher Blackburn, Corey T. Boone, Melissa Loreice McCoy, and Jerica M. Richardson
2010 – Shruti Batra, Matthew Stellmaker, and Cameron Trent Mao
2009 – Garrett Langley and Ranni Tewfik
2008 – Richard Schanda
2007 – Angela R. Gill, Sung Woo Choi, Orion A. King, and John D. Waters, Jr.
2006 – Charles Wiley, Shannon Fatehi, Saira Amir, and J.P. James
2005 – Laura M. Grosch
2004 – Keith Benjamin Lawder
2003 – Daniel White
2002 – George (Trey) Baltz, III
2001 – Joseph Stephen Katzen
2000 – L. Christopher Young
1999 – Scott W. Jackson
1998 – Jennifer Stokes
1997 – Meredith Moore