George and Phoebe Harp Honorary Enrichment Fund Established
JONESBORO – A newly established scholarship will help students who are studying the environment at Arkansas State University.With a $25,000 endowment, the George and Phoebe Harp Honorary Endowed Enrichment Fund has been created. An additional $5,000 will go to an annual scholarship.
The scholarship will have an annual award of $1,000 for the first five years, $500 per semester.To qualify for the scholarship, one must be on-campus undergraduate student with 18 semester credit hours, have a minimum 2.5 GPA, and be majoring in a specific area of study.
Those areas include biological sciences with an emphasis in evolution, ecology and organismal biology, environmental science, or wildlife, fisheries and conservation.If there are no applicants that meet those requirements, preference will be given to students majoring in other degree programs including those seeking a minor in marine science, or a bachelor's degree in biotechnology, biological sciences with an emphasis in pre-professional studies, or chemistry.“The reason for establishing this endowment is because it brings together the two fields we are most passionate about, education and the environment,” said the Harps.The intent is to support students who complete a curricular or research experience at a field station or remote field location.Dr. George L. Harp, professor emeritus of environmental biology, was an A-State educator from 1967 until 1999. He is a past president and life member of the Arkansas Academy of Science and past president of Dragonfly Society of the Americas.His wife, Phoebe A. Harp, is a former A-State faculty member in biological sciences. She graduated from A-State with her master's degree in biology and co-founded the Northeast Arkansas Women in Science Club.The benefactors have supported the university in the past and even inspired a past student to create an endowment. In 2020, Dr. Sam Kallsnick endowed the Dr. George Harp Honorary Scholarship.
Anyone interested in contributing to the George and Phoebe Harp Honorary Endowed Enrichment Fund may do so through the Arkansas State University System Foundation, Inc. Additional gifts can be made online through the university website.Additional information about this and other endowment opportunities at A-State is available through the Office of Development, 870-972-3940 or Development@AState.edu.
