Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State senior from Ocean Springs is the sole U.S. Air Force ROTC cadet receiving a special national award.
At a university ceremony earlier this week, aerospace engineering major Christine M. Schudrowitz was presented with a $3,000 scholarship from the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association, in partnership with the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.
Her award is one of only four given this year to ROTC participants and the only one going to a member of the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Similar awards are being presented to a member of Army, Navy and Marine Corps programs at other schools.
A 2003 Ocean Springs High School graduate, she is the daughter of James and Mary Schudrowitz. She was nominated by MSU's departments of aerospace studies and aerospace engineering.
An annual AFCEA/MOHF recognition, the scholarship is limited to top ROTC cadets majoring in aerospace engineering, electronics, electrical engineering, mathematics, physics, computer technology, and intelligence systems. Demonstrated leadership performance and potential, along with a commitment to armed forces service, are among the criteria for selection.
Since entering MSU as a freshman, Schudrowitz has been selected for four previous honors. They include the Air Force Association, College Scholarship Recipient and Commendation awards, and the Academic Honors Award Ribbon.
Jack Lucas of Hattiesburg, one of two members in attendance representing the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, presented the scholarship. An enlisted Marine in World War II, he earned the nation's highest military honor at age 17 for service during the bloody invasion of Japanese-held Iwo Jima island.
Also participating in the ceremony were retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Nicholas Kehoe, president of the South Carolina-based Medal of Honor Foundation, and MSU President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong, a retired four-star Air Force general.
Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., AFCEA is an international non-profit organization representing top government, industry and military professionals in the fields of information technology, communications and intelligence.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information on Cadet Schudrowitz, contact AFROTC staff assistant Carolyn Smith at 662-325-3810 or csmith@afrotc.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.