How A Life-Altering Scholarship Provides More Diverse Access to STEM Education, Careers
A scholarship program named in honor of a noted engineer and philanthropist – A. James Clark – provides Stevens scholarship recipients with significant financial aid, support for research and study abroad, mentoring and leadership and service opportunities.
The university welcomed the inaugural cohort of 23 Clark Scholars in fall 2018 as part of the incoming undergraduate Class of 2022. The inclusion of this exceptional group of first-year students, who are currently pursuing degrees in engineering, computer science and cybersecurity, is possible thanks to an exceptionally generous $15 million endowment investment by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, honoring the late Mr. Clark and his wife.
Since the enrollment of this inaugural cohort, additional students have benefited from the program. Among them: 26 high school students from Washington, D.C., who gained an immersive college experience at the university through Stevens’ vaunted pre-college program during the summer of 2019. Stevens also welcomed a second group of Clark Scholars in fall 2019.
Clark himself was the beneficiary of significant scholarship support while at the University of Maryland, later growing his local construction company – the Clark Construction Group – into one of the nation’s leading privately held construction firms. In appreciation, he and his family later created their own scholarship program, an academic initiative founded on the principles of engineering, business, leadership and community service.
The Clark Foundation’s investments have since provided extraordinary educational and enrichment opportunities for talented students with financial need, including those traditionally underrepresented in the engineering and science fields. Each Clark Scholar receives a significant financial aid package to support their Stevens education over four years, plus financial support for research and study abroad experiences and access to mentoring seminars, leadership training and service opportunities.
Stevens President Nariman Farvardin, who knew Clark personally as a mentor and friend, says Clark’s legacy will live on through the achievements of the Clark Scholars and their future positive impact on society.
“Mr. Clark was and remains an inspiration in my life,” President Farvardin has said. “The example he set — as an exceedingly talented and hard-working engineer with extraordinary business acumen and boundless generosity — will live on and multiply through Clark Scholars at Stevens. I am confident that the Clark Scholars will make us proud.”