The UW Alumni Women in Technology Entrance Scholarship was established by the Elliott family with an initial donation of $10,000 in 2020. Andrew Elliott (BASc ‘85, chemical engineering) and his wife Donna Elliott (BA ’85) met when they were students at Waterloo. Their two daughters, Sarah Elliott (BASc ‘14, systems design engineering) and Carolyn Elliott (BAFM, ‘18), are alumni too.
So far, the scholarship has benefitted six women students including Rachel Wormald.
“My first term at Waterloo was really hard,” says Wormald. “All the new pressures of a university degree workload were incredibly demanding. The scholarship empowered me and helped me stay the course in more ways than one. It alleviated the upfront financial stress, enabling me to get to grips with the academic intensity, and it made me feel celebrated as a woman in STEM.”
Since its inception, the scholarship has grown to over $65,000 thanks to the Elliott family’s ongoing contributions, as well as pledges from their extended family and friends.
“Our hope,” Sarah Elliot says, “is that other alumni will choose to contribute to this award and help more young women pursuing careers in STEM start their studies on a strong footing.”
Go to Empowering women in STEM for the full story.