UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy has established its first scholarship endowment thanks to a gift from Georgiana Vines, adjunct faculty member and Knoxville News Sentinel political columnist.
Vines has established the Georgiana Vines Endowed Scholarship Fund to reflect her interest in journalism and public policy. This fund awards merit-based aid to Baker Scholars enrolled in the College of Communication and Information.
Vines said she was inspired to create the scholarship through classroom interactions with a former journalism student who was a Baker Scholar.
“Throughout the semester, the student’s intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for news reporting impressed me. As a Baker Scholar, she had taken on an immersive policy research project on top of her full-time course load. As I got to know her, I gained a better understanding of the goals of the Baker Scholars program,” Vines said.
Baker Scholars undergo a rigorous application process and commit to additional scholarly work, but they do not presently receive direct, merit-based aid or research stipends for their Baker appointments.
Vines encourages others to follow her lead.
“The Howard Baker Center plays a very important role in the community, on campus, and in the lives of students. There is a need for private support, and I’d encourage others to seriously consider making a gift to the Baker Center,” she said.
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C O N T A C T :
Michelle Castro (865-974-3816, mcastro@utfi.org)