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$10 Million Horatio Alger Scholarship Grant Program Endowed by Dennis and Phyllis Washington
Lifetime Member and Wife to Provide Funds for Alumni Seeking Graduate Degrees
| Source: Horatio Alger Association
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - January 21, 2008) - The Horatio Alger Association of
Distinguished Americans is pleased to announce a new graduate grant program
that will enable its National Scholar alumni to pursue graduate and
doctoral degree programs. The Horatio Alger "American Excellence Graduate
Grant Program" was made possible by a $10 million donation provided by
Chairman and Lifetime Association Member Dennis Washington and his wife
Phyllis. The program will award up to $20,000 annually per scholar.
"The Association is honored by Dennis and Phyllis Washington's generosity
for providing this additional level of educational support for our National
Scholars," Association President and CEO Joseph Neubauer said. "This new
program builds upon the existing Horatio Alger mission of providing
scholarships by adding another important element. We are proud to reward
those with the passion and commitment to undertake graduate-level work."
"It is important to encourage scholars of all ages to reach beyond their
dreams," Washington stated. "Giving deserving students the opportunity to
further educate themselves will not only benefit them as individuals, but
will contribute to society as a whole."
Based on his own humble beginnings, Dennis Washington, Chairman of
Washington Group International and Founder of The Washington Companies, has
truly personified the Horatio Alger Member. He has overcome adversity to
achieve great American success. As a child living in Bremerton, Washington,
he suffered from polio and poverty, but his determination to succeed, even
at a young age, enabled him to overcome both. He was inspired to become a
successful young entrepreneur despite having to constantly migrate around
three states and several schools. By age 26, he became vice president of
the largest construction company in Montana and then proceeded to create
his own company, Washington Construction, which within years would become
one of the largest in the nation. In 1996, Washington Construction
acquired the global construction and engineering company Morrison-Knudsen
Corporation of Boise, Idaho, creating Washington Group International. His
other private businesses, the Washington Companies, comprise more than a
dozen affiliated companies, including the largest privately owned railroad
in the U.S.
In 1988, Washington and his wife Phyllis founded the Dennis & Phyllis
Washington Foundation. $70 million has been donated to charitable causes
through both the Foundation and the Washingtons' personal contributions.
In addition to charity, community service and the arts, the Washingtons
have dedicated their lives to investing in American education. They have
made several donations to create scholarships for the Horatio Alger
Association including the Dennis R. Washington Horatio Alger Association
Graduate Fellowship, The Helen B. Miller Horatio Alger Scholarship, and the
Horatio Alger Montana Undergraduate Scholarship Program.
The "American Excellence Graduate Grant Program" application and
qualifications will be available online at www.horatioalger.org/scholars
from January 15-March 15, 2008. Finalists will be notified in April and
will be required to complete a personal interview in Washington, D.C., in
May. The first American Excellence Graduate Grant recipients will be
announced in May 2008.
About The Horatio Alger Association
Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans
continues to fulfill its mission of honoring the achievements of
outstanding individuals in our society who have succeeded in spite of
adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through
higher education. The Horatio Alger Association offers three annual
scholarship programs totaling $12 million annually: the National
Scholarship Program and various state scholarship programs for high school
seniors and the Horatio Alger Military Veterans Scholarship Program for
U.S. veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. For more information
about the scholarships, please visit www.horatioalger.org.