Emily Hazen Named 2015 Farmer Scholarship Recipient
Melbourne Resident to Pursue Engineering at Florida Tech
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Institute of Technology has named Emily Hazen the 2015 recipient of its most prestigious scholarship, the Farmer Scholarship.
Hazen, 17, a Principal’s Scholar at Viera High School who plans to study engineering starting in the fall, received a full, four-year scholarship under the Phillip W. Farmer Scholars Program that covers all tuition and university fees, a room in Harris Village’s Farmer Hall and the regular university meal plan.
And as the Farmer Scholar, Hazen will be given a stipend between her junior and senior years for enrichment through Florida Tech’s summer study abroad program at Oxford University in England.
The Farmer Scholars Program each year selects a Florida resident and high school graduate who is among the top 5 percent of his or her class and demonstrates exceptional academic achievement and outstanding personal character. That certainly describes Hazen.
A National Merit Commended Student and AP Scholar with Honors, the Melbourne resident with a 4.47 weighted GPA made sure she excelled in areas beyond the classroom, as well. She has been a Girl Scout for the last 10 years and earned the organization’s highest achievement, the Gold Award. Hazen co-founded her high school’s chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, which works to keep Brevard’s oceans and beaches clean. She is one of Brevard County’s best young adult archers, and last year she won the National Academy of Engineering Video Contest.
It was at that group’s 50th annual symposium – which Hazen attended courtesy of her award-winning video – where academy President C.D. Mote Jr., gave a speech encouraging the building “of a more sustainable, healthy and secure world,” Hazen recalled in an essay.
“I was inspired to help shape this vision, and decided that I would become an engineer,” Hazen wrote.
And Florida Tech, she determined after researching potential schools, was the place to do it.
“I strongly believe that engineering is my ideal profession; I want to work in a field that challenges me to learn something new every day,” Hazen wrote. “By working with respected professors at FIT, I will gain the experience and connections that will help me achieve my dream.”
The Farmer Scholars program began in 2009, when Phillip W. Farmer, retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harris Corp. and chairman of the Florida Tech Board of Trustees, donated $1.5 million to establish this endowed scholarship.
Florida Tech President and CEO Anthony J. Catanese said Hazen is poised to continue the tradition of excellence found at both Harris and Florida Tech.
“Both Harris and Florida Tech seek the best and the brightest, and then make them even stronger, whether in the workplace or the classroom,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming Emily to our campus in August and anticipate great things.”
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