Hawkins Scholarship Awarded to Outstanding UTEP Students
Scholarship provides $10,000 for educational expenses, experiences
EL PASO, Texas (Nov. 11, 2024) – Undergraduate students Brianna Emily Ortega and Eduardo Gutierrez have been awarded the Hawkins Scholarship, The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso’s highest award for scholarship and leadership.
“The competition for the Hawkins Scholarship was impressive this year,” said UTEP President Heather Wilson. “Eduardo and Brianna are impressive student leaders who will make a difference.”
The Hawkins Scholarship was established by Wilson and is named for 1st Lt. William Dean Hawkins, who studied engineering at UTEP, then known as the Texas College of Mines. Hawkins enlisted in the Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was eventually commissioned as an officer before being killed in action while serving during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts above and beyond the call of duty.
Learn more about the 2024 UTEP Hawkins Scholars:
Brianna Emily Ortega is an El Paso native and a junior at UTEP studying biological sciences with a concentration in biomedical science. A lifelong passion for science led her to pursue studies in biology, and she plans to earn a doctorate and become an oncology researcher specializing in breast cancer.
“Receiving the Hawkins scholarship has been an amazing opportunity to further develop myself as a professional and scholar,” Ortega said. “I look forward to representing UTEP in a positive light while I pursue my career in cancer research.”
Eduardo Gutierrez grew up in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso and is currently a junior at UTEP studying biological sciences with a minor in psychology and a concentration in biomedical science. His desire to become a physician was cemented by an experience doing research into congenital disorders with Anita Quintana, Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences. Gutierrez recently concluded an internship at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“Receiving the Hawkins Scholarship represents not only financial support but also contributes to my research and education,” Gutierrez said. “This scholarship will allow me to one day accomplish my goal of becoming a physician who can find the answers to complex neurological disorders that affect millions of families around the world.”
The Hawkins Scholarship application and selection process is modeled after competitive graduate scholarship programs like the Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell and Gates Cambridge scholarships. Each Hawkins Scholarship, bestowed annually to two UTEP juniors, comes with a $10,000 award that may be used to pay for educational expenses or experiences that enhance the scholar’s undergraduate education in preparation for graduate school. These expenses can include tuition, fees, room and board, books and special educational experiences, including undergraduate research and study abroad.
The scholarship selection committee included Kathrin Berg, UTEP alumna and director of donor relations at the El Paso Community Foundation; Marshall Carter-Tripp, a former U.S. Foreign Service member and political science professor, as well as former director of the Centennial Museum; Nicholas Muñiz, operations manager and equal opportunity officer at Workforce Solutions Borderplex; and Jay Hone, a retired Air Force colonel and attorney and President Wilson’s husband.
About The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso
The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 25,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 170 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.
Last Updated on November 12, 2024 at 12:00 AM | Originally published November 12, 2024
By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications
