{"id":10588,"date":"2018-02-28T13:58:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T18:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=10588"},"modified":"2018-02-28T13:58:50","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T18:58:50","slug":"osborne-scholarship-grad-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2018\/02\/osborne-scholarship-grad-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Osborne Scholarship Gives Grad Students Freedom to Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Susan Fandel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah Dedmon\u2019s passion for graduate studies was sparked in Beirut, Lebanon, where the 23-year-old NC State <\/span>Wilson College of Textiles<\/span><\/a> alumna was providing relief services to refugees displaced by the Syrian civil war. Unfolding all around her was a waste management crisis, polluting the land and plaguing the people of Lebanon. Dedmon, fresh from a degree in Textile Technology, Medical Textile concentration, wondered how textile applications could restore and prevent this pollution. She was determined to find solutions, so this Charlotte, N.C. native applied to the master\u2019s program at N.C. State\u2019s Wilson College of Textiles to pursue a master\u2019s degree in <\/span>Textile Engineering<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now in her first year of graduate school, Dedmon is investigating sustainable methods to create high performance fibers, namely looking at biomass additives that are either waste products from other industries or naturally occurring. With the help of the Osborne Scholarship, a new funding source for some Wilson College of Textiles graduate students, Dedmon is getting a headstart on her goals. The funding will allow Dedmon the time to begin her doctoral coursework in <\/span>Fiber and Polymer Science<\/span><\/a> while completing her master\u2019s degree. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dedmon is one of five graduate students in the Wilson College of Textiles who was recently awarded the Gordon and Marjorie Osborne Scholarship. This new scholarship, established by a gift from the Gordon and Marjorie Osborne Foundation to the <\/span>North Carolina Textile Foundation<\/span><\/a>, gives selected Wilson College of Textiles graduate students the freedom to focus on their studies without worrying about how to make ends meet. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Osborne Scholarship has given me the flexibility to pursue fully my studies in Textile Engineering,\u201d Dedmon said. \u201cSustainability has been a continued passion of mine and I am thankful to have the freedom to pursue this project with the help of the Osborne Scholarship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Recruiting and Sustaining Top Talent<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Named in honor of the late G. Gordon Osborne \u2014 educator, textile scientist and former president and treasurer of Warwick Mills in Rhode Island \u2014 and his wife Marjorie, the Osborne Scholarship will allow the Wilson College of Textiles to recruit a competitive and diverse group of graduate students from across the country into the textile field. For incoming recipients, the scholarship provides hard-to-obtain first-year funding for tuition, as well as a graduate stipend. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to a recruitment tool, the Osborne Scholarship provides much-need funding relief to current graduate students like Dedmon who are insufficiently funded. Growth of the Textiles graduate program has outpaced funding growth, leaving many graduate students struggling to cover tuition costs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Osborne Scholarship allows students who have lost their funding, or never had funding, to have a bridge of support to complete their degrees,\u201d said Dr. Jon Rust, interim associate dean for Academic Programs. \u201cHow wonderful is that? To help a student who has been struggling financially, scraping funds together semester by semester, to have the pressure taken off a little bit so they can complete their dissertation and earn their doctoral degree.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Funding from the Osborne Scholarship and other sources like it gives students an opportunity to complete the education necessary to become leaders in academia or industry, much like Gordon Osborne. An instructor at N.C. State in the early 1930s, Osborne was dedicated to the advancement of the textile industry from a business and technical standpoint. Paving the way for a new generation of capable graduates is a fitting legacy for this innovative leader in textile manufacturing. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe believe the scholarship recipients represent the great potential demonstrated by all your university graduates,\u201d said Karl Spilhaus, a trustee of the Osborne Foundation. \u201cWe understand the important position your university occupies in promoting the strength and vitality of the American textile industry.\u201d The Osborne Foundation selected N.C. State to provide the scholarships because they consider the university to be the leading textile sciences university in the country. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2018 Osborne Scholarship Recipients<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first Osborne Scholarship recipients are as diverse as the textile field itself, ranging in focus from fashion to developing polymeric materials. What they share is a commitment to the future of the textile industry and a zest for lifelong education<\/span>.<\/span>
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Alaric Bryant – M.S., Textiles<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n