K-State's Lisa Kitten brings home $70,000 Marshall Scholarship

Media Relations and Marketing
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506-0117
Phone: 785-532-6415
Fax: 785-532-6418

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: James Hohenbary, 785-532-6904, jimlth@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Cheryl May, 785-532-6415, may@k-state.edu

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

K-State's 12th Marshall winner:
K-STATE'S LISA KITTEN BRINGS HOME $70,000 MARSHALL SCHOLARSHIP

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University senior Lisa Kitten, Plains, took a trip to Chicago Nov. 8 to interview for the Marshall Scholarship. It was a productive visit. She is one of about 40 students awarded a 2007 Marshall Scholarship.

"Congratulations to Lisa Kitten on winning a Marshall Scholarship," said K-State President Jon Wefald. "Lisa is K-State's 12th Marshall scholar, and our 11th since 1986. She will use her Marshall to pursue a graduate degree in biomedical engineering, with a particular focus on replacement joints and other types of prosthetics, an area that has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world.

"Her achievement in winning the Marshall scholarship is an important one," Wefald said. "The competition for only about 40 of these scholarships is intense, with the nation's best and brightest college students nominated by the 500 state and 1,500 private four-year colleges in the nation. In sports, we know how important it is to be a first-team All-American in football or basketball. Lisa Kitten is a first-team All-American scholar for 2006-07."

According to James Hohenbary, assistant dean for scholar development, the Marshall scholarship provides full funding to support two, and in some instances three, years of study at any university in the United Kingdom, and the value of the scholarship is estimated at more than $35,000 per year for two or three years of study.

"In addition to providing funding for a world-class degree, the Marshall scholarship also opens the door to a unique life experience," Hohenbary said. "Having seen what an outstanding student Lisa Kitten is, I know she will take full advantage of this exciting opportunity."

Kitten plans to attend Oxford University to work on improvements to the Oxford meniscal knee. Her career plans are to do research in the biomedical arena, focusing on prosthetics.

Kitten is majoring in mechanical engineering. She is Senior Member of Engineering Student Council and has served as president, director of publicity, director of development and freshman leadership committee president. She chairs the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Student Advisory Council, sits on the Coordinating Committee for People with Disabilities, and is a member of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

She serves as a mentor for new engineering students, is a member of Women Mentoring Women, and was an Engineering Ambassador. She studied at Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic, in spring 2005. She is performing research into the use of elemental signatures for stand-off bomb detection and into the use of neutron activation to analyze the wear rate of the acetabulum due to a hip prosthesis. She is a National Merit Scholar. She also is a K-State Kassebaum Scholar and Presidential Scholar, both funded through the Kansas State University Foundation. She also received a national Clare Boothe Luce undergraduate scholarship.

A 2002 graduate of Southwestern Heights High School, she is the daughter of Bernie and Shari Kitten, Plains.K-State has had 12 Marshall scholarships overall, 11 of them since 1986. K-State is tied for second in the nation among state universities in producing Marshall scholars with 11 winners from 1986-2007. Among state schools, the University of California at Berkeley is first with 16. K-State is tied with Arizona State University for second. K-State is 15th among all the nation's colleges and universities since 1986.

Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. At least 40 scholars are selected each year to study either at graduate or occasionally undergraduate level at an institution in the United Kingdom in any field of study.

From the Marshall Scholarship Foundation: As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions. Marshall Scholars are talented, independent and wide-ranging, and their time as scholars enhances their intellectual and personal growth. Their direct engagement with Britain through its best academic programs contributes to their ultimate personal success.