Scholarships Awarded to Business StudentsBy Inger McPhailSix Bowie State University College of Business students were each awarded a one-time only $1,500 scholarship from the Caterpillar Foundation Excellence Fund. This is the first year that the Bowie State University College of Business and the Caterpillar Foundation were able to provide scholarships to business students of exceptional academic achievement and leadership qualities. "Each scholarship is an opportunity to allow the student to continue their academic studies while reducing the financial burden as they matriculate through the university," Dr. Anthony C. Nelson, Dean of the College of Business, said. This year's Caterpillar Foundation Excellence Fund Scholarship recipients are: Beau Bailey, Crystal Dickerson, Chrishana Heath, Kedra Watts, William S. Martin, and Shantel Thorne. All are committed to academic success and their performance both in and outside of the classroom exemplify the characteristics of excellence and leadership. These students met the criteria for receiving the award; they are U.S. citizens who are full-time majors in the BSU College of Business; completed 60 credit hours and maintain a B average or better. In addition, each student applicant presented an essay outlining any in-class and extracurricular leadership activities During a recent College of Business photo session, the scholarship awardees expressed their gratitude for the cash. "It helps tremendously. It minimizes loan paybacks," said Crystal Dickerson, a junior from Upper Marlboro, Md., majoring in business administration. Beau Bailey, a senior and accounting major from Waldorf, Md., echoed her statements. "I can concentrate on my studies fulltime. It is great relief of a financial burden. Otherwise it would be hard to keep my current 4.0 GPA." Another recipient of the Caterpillar scholarship, Chrishana Heath, a senior from Baltimore and business administration major, was very grateful for the award. "The scholarship helps have a lesser dependence on loans. Now I can focus more on academics and applying my skills after graduation and not be heavily in debt." The College of Business offers several majors/concentrations for students interested in pursuing a career in business. Information on these majors as well as career resources is available on the College's website at: http://www.bowiestate.edu/academics/colleges/business/ . | 
My experience at BSU has been positive. I have had the opportunity to learn from great professors who are truly interested in seeing me excel.
Dr. William Lawrence is a professor in the Natural Sciences Department. A proud member of the Bowie State Community since 1997, Dr. Lawrence is an ecologist with interests in satellite remote sensing, technology applications in education and online learning. His on-campus teaching has included introductory biology, the BIOL majors' seminar and the ever-popular BIOL203 Endless Voyage marine environment course delivered through BSU Online with an enrollment of 200 or more BSU students every semester.
After earning a bachelor's degree in business administration in marketing from James Madison University, Angela spent more than a decade working in small and large organizations and honing her leadership and organizational skills.
