Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State seniors Haley Haverstock and Jennifer Gates are recent selections for Celia Moh Scholarships during the 2011-12 school year.
Gates, daughter of Dennis and Mary Gates, is a Cleveland resident; Haverstock, daughter of Gary and Nancy Haverstock, is from Murray, Ky. Both are interior design majors at the university.
The national award program was established in 2001 by furniture industry entrepreneur Laurence Moh to honor his wife, the scholarship's namesake. Funded by an initial $3 million gift, the recognition is designed to help nurture the academic endeavors of preeminent undergraduate students enrolled full-time in home furnishings programs.
Gates and Haverstock, along with seven others around the country will be covered for full tuition, room, board, books, and fees. The nine scholars join two returning students selected in previous years. Sixty-five scholarships have been awarded in the program's 10-year existence.
Bill Martin, director of MSU's Franklin Furniture Institute, said the Moh Scholarship is among other gifts established in recent years to attract students to careers in the furniture and home furnishings industry. The American Home Furnishings Alliance Furniture Foundation and the Southeastern Home Furnishings Association also recently established scholarships, he added.
"We are excited about this opportunity to encourage students to consider the furniture industry as a career option," Martin said.
The Franklin Furniture Institute manages the scholarships. Established some 20 years ago, the institute works to assist companies through a range of services, including furniture testing, marketing, exporting, and workforce training. (For more, visit www.ffi.msstate.edu.)
For more on the Moh Scholarship at MSU, contact Martin at 662-325-3348 or wmartin@cfr.msstate.edu.