Date:  May 5, 2001
Contact: Irene Cromer
(703) 791-8720

Nneka C. Madu, a senior at Gar-Field High School, was named a Ron Brown Scholar by the CAP Charitable Foundation (USA).  She was one of twenty-one outstanding African-American high schools seniors that will receive a $40,000 college scholarship from the Foundation, which established the awards in 1996 as part of its educational philanthropy program.  More than 8,000 seniors applied to the nationwide competition.

The scholarship seeks to identify students who have the potential to make significant contributions to society.  “We want young people committed to helping others,” says Michael A. Mallory, Executive Director of the Program.  The scholarships are awarded to students that demonstrate academic excellence, leadership potential, social commitment, and financial need.
  Nneka ranks second in her class of 614, and is a member of the National Honor Society, a Ventures Scholar, National Achievement finalist, and National Merit Commended Scholar.  She plans to pursue a career in medicine and spent part of last summer at the Virginia Governor’s School as an intern in the Medical Mentor Program.

The program was named in honor of Ron Brown, the first African-American Secretary of Commerce.  Brown died in a plane crash in 1996 while on a trade and peace mission to Eastern Europe.  Two of his most deeply held convictions, that there should be no limits to the kind of leadership that African Americans can provide, and that they have a duty to give back to their communities, are the guiding principals of the program.

“An important goal is to accelerate the progress of blacks into leadership positions in government, business, education, and a wide spectrum of professions,” says Malloy.  Ron Brown Scholars are expected to participate in a pre-professional internship while in college.  A leadership conference is held every three years offering students the opportunity to interact with national figures, among whom are syndicated columnist William Raspberry, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and Dr. Vivian Pinn of the National Institutes of Health.