Siebel Foundation announces 2011 Siebel Scholars at MIT

The Siebel Foundation has announced the recipients of the annual Siebel Scholars awards, including 15 from MIT. The Siebel Scholars program recognizes outstanding graduate students from the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, and bioengineering. MIT’s School of Engineering and the MIT Sloan School of Management have participated in the program since the Siebel Foundation established it in 2000. Traditionally awarded to exceptional students in Sloan and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Siebel Scholar awards were expanded last year to include recipients from the Department of Biological Engineering; MIT is one of only two universities to have Siebel Scholars in all three areas.

This year’s honorees from MIT are:

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: Hasan Celiker, Michael Forbes, Katherine Lin, Kuang Xu, Angela Yen;
• Biological Engineering: Andrea Bryan, Lily Jeng, Arkadiusz Raczynski, Nidhi Shrivastav, David Weingeist;
• MIT Sloan: Guillaume Fernet, James Harland, Hana Peljto, Lindsay Stradley, Fatma Yalcin.

Over the past 10 years, the Siebel Scholars program has created a community of more than 600 scholars — 120 of them from MIT — whose personal leadership, academic achievement and collaborations are providing solutions to pressing societal problems. Siebel Scholars are awarded $35,000 during their final year of study based on outstanding academic performance and leadership; current and former Siebel Scholars will convene at MIT in October 2010 to address the topic of energy and climate change with renowned scientists, lawmakers and experts.

The Siebel Scholars program is funded by a grant from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation. Established as a private foundation in 1996, the Siebel Foundation is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation. Its mission is to support projects and organizations that work to improve the quality of life, environment and education of its community members. The Siebel Foundation funds projects to support the homeless and underprivileged, educational and research programs, methamphetamine abuse prevention, and alternative energy solutions.

For more information on Siebel Scholars, please visit http://www.siebelscholars.com/scholars