Stamps Banneker/Key Scholars at University of Maryland
The Banneker/Key Scholarship Program at University of Maryland has partnered with the Stamps Charitable Foundation Stamps Charitable Foundation to offer the Stamps Banneker/Key Scholarship to a very select group of Banneker/Key Scholars.
Each of these students has been awarded a full merit scholarship that covers the entire cost of tuition, room, board, and a book allowance each year for four years of undergraduate study. The Stamps Banneker/Key Scholarship also provides up to $5,000 per student to be used for research opportunities, internship experiences, travel to professional meetings to present, study abroad, or other student-initiated learning opportunities approved on a case-by-case basis.
The Stamps Banneker/Key Scholarship is not currently being offered to new University of Maryland students.
Meet the 2016 Stamps Banneker/Key Scholars
Catelyn Barnes is a third-year student at the University of Maryland and a member of the Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students program within the Honors College. She is majoring in computer science, with interests in both data science and cybersecurity. Graduating in the top two percent of Fairmont Heights High School, she dedicated her high school career not only to learning but also to outreach, community service, student government, leadership in clubs and honors societies, sports, and computer science. At the University of Maryland, she is involved in the Black Engineers Society, a cybersecurity-focused hacking team, Sisters in S.T.E.M., and the UMD’s Maryland Gospel Choir, in which she has held leadership positions. She is also starting a student-led tutoring and mentoring program for minority computer science underclassmen in the 2018-19 academic year. In her free time, she likes to write music and short stories, sing, and swim. She hopes to become influential in the cybersecurity field and to create a program focused on teaching young girls about computer science and goal-setting.
Donald De Alwis was one of the top graduates from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is pursuing a pre-med track as an environmental science and technology major with a specialization in environmental health, and is a member of the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College. Donald is very involved in Engineers Without Borders, and in 2018, he was named a NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholar. In high school, Donald rowed for the crew team and was the photo editor of the school’s award-winning online newspaper, Silver Chips Online, in addition to being a member of various environmental and medical clubs. In his sophomore year in high school, Donald worked on a documentary for the C-SPAN StudentCam competition, which won first place and led to his internship with Vice President Joe Biden. He used his earnings from the competition to found a nonprofit organization, The Motion Project, to uplift underprivileged children with physical handicaps in his birthplace, Sri Lanka. In his free time, Donald works as a professional wedding photographer, and he enjoys rock climbing and hiking through local parks and forests.
Paula Molina Acosta was a top graduate from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a Women’s Studies major and Departmental Honors student, as well as a Creative Writing minor, and a member of the University Honors Program and the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House. She is president of PLUMAS, a Latina student activist organization, and she represents the College of Arts and Humanities in the University Senate. She is a member of Triota, the Women’s Studies Honors Society, and is a volunteer panelist with the Speakers’ Bureau. Paula has interned at Carderock Springs Elementary School, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, and the National Partnership for Women & Families. She is currently interning with the office of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. In 2019 she was tapped to join Omicron Delta Kappa and was named a Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar. In her free time, she is a writer and artist, and she loves to read.
Meet the 2015 Stamps Banneker/Key Scholars
Andrés-Mauricio Arbelaez was one of the top graduates from Dulaney High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. He created his own major of human-centered product design, and he is a member of the Design Cultures & Creativity program in the Honors College. Andrés-Mauricio previously completed an internship with Instagram, and he is currently a product design intern with Facebook. Andrés-Mauricio is also a career prep fellow with Management Leadership for Tomorrow. In high school, Andrés-Mauricio was an associate editor of the school’s Columbia Scholastic Press Gold Crown newspaper The Griffin, as well as a founder and head of the school’s Hispanic club, La Voz Hispana. During his senior year in high school, he interned in a Spanish AVID class, mentoring native Spanish-speaking students to become college-bound under the nationally-accredited AVID program. In his free time, Andrés-Mauricio enjoys playing soccer, listening to rap and jazz music, and tossing around the old hacky-sack.
Eric Ding graduated in the top five of his class from Elkton High School in Cecil County, Maryland. At Maryland, he studies computer engineering and is a member of both the QUEST Honors Program and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Honors Program. Eric has interned with Booz Allen Hamilton and JPMorgan Chase, and he is currently an electrical engineering intern with Boeing. In his free time, he enjoys programming and playing music.
Caroline Simon graduated among the very top students in her class from Glenelg High School in Howard County, MD. She is pursuing a public health science major and a Spanish language and culture minor on the pre-medical track. She is a member of the Gemstone program in the Honors College at the University of Maryland, researching oyster reef restoration. Caroline interned and continues to volunteer at the Pregnancy Aid Center, a women’s health clinic in College Park, MD. She has also been vice president of Public Health Without Borders, a member of Pre-medical Society, and a research assistant in the Exercise for Brain Health laboratory. During the summer of 2017, Caroline completed the UM Scholars program at University of Maryland School of Medicine, participating in biomedical research in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. Thanks to her Stamps Banneker/Key funding, Caroline was able to travel to Karnataka, India in winter 2018 to explore global public health.