BASF awards $10,000 in scholarships to LSU engineering students

GEISMAR, LA, October 30, 2012 – BASF has awarded $10,000 in scholarships to four students of Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as part of the BASF Team Chemistry Scholarship Fund.

“We see education and academic success as essential to the future of science and engineering,” said Tom Yura, Senior Vice President and Manager of the BASF site in Geismar, Louisiana. “BASF’s Team Chemistry Scholarship Fund is part of our investment in the next generation of leaders by supporting math and science education.”

The winning students, who each received a $2,500 scholarship from BASF, have displayed academic success in their fields of study and are active members on the LSU campus and in the community.

• George Tyler Barney , a junior studying electrical engineering, is a resident of Phoenix, Arizona. He is an active member of the LSU Cycling Club, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and an LSU Peer Mentor. Barney volunteers at the East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission (BREC) BMX area helping children learn to ride bikes. He has shown his leadership as a peer mentor, President of BMX-LSU, working as an information technology administrator, and was recently awarded the Heroism Award with Boy Scouts of America.
  
  
• Jade Elizabeth Bates , a chemical engineering sophomore, works in the Engineering Communication studio. From Faunsdale, Alabama, Bates is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Engineers without Borders and many other organizations. is a team captain for the intramural volleyball team; a member of her residential college community council; and as a studio monitor at the Engineering Communications Studio.
  
  
• Anne K. Collins , a mechanical engineering sophomore, works at the LSU College of Engineering Communication studio and is an active member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), SWE, Eta Sigma, the Louisiana Youth Orchestra and other organizations. Collins, who is from Prairieville, Louisiana, also volunteers at the Baton Rouge Food Bank, teaches English as a second language, and is a peer mentor at the Engineering Communications Studio. Her community work includes helping with the Braveheart Children in Need program.
  
  
• Virginia Francis Steward , a mechanical engineering junior, is honored on the LSU Dean’s list and Chancellor’s Honor Roll. Steward, from Denver, Colorado, is active in both the ASME and SWE, while holding an internship in quality compliance.

"Corporate partners such as BASF are an integral component to the growth of the College of Engineering in graduating engineers who are prepared to be immediately successful in their career," said Ryan W. Cooney, Director, Corporate Relations and Economic Development, LSU College of Engineering. "Through BASF's support of the Team Chemistry Scholarship Fund, four College of Engineering students will receive assistance to succeed both in the classroom and the workplace."

BASF presented the students their scholarships recently and their pictures were shown on the jumbo-tron during the LSU-South Carolina football game.  

BASF – The Chemical Company

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $20 billion in 2011. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.us .

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success, social responsibility and environmental protection. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in almost all industries to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and system solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring healthy food and nutrition and helping to improve the quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of about €73.5 billion in 2011 and had more than 111,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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