Illinois State University is proud to announce that 14 students were selected as Robert G. Bone Scholars for the 2024-2025 school year.
The Bone Scholarship, the highest university-wide honor given to undergraduate students, includes a monetary award from the Bone Scholarship endowment. Recipients of the award will be featured in a display at the Bone Student Center. The 14 new Scholars will be introduced during an October 6, 2024, luncheon.
The scholarship is named in honor of the late Robert G. Bone, president of Illinois State University from 1956-1967. Bone Scholars are selected through a rigorous campus-wide competition based on their scholarly achievements and their engagement and leadership in activities in the University community and beyond. Invited finalists submit a comprehensive portfolio including several essays and statements, an academic product, and letters of recommendation. The mean grade point average of this year’s Bone Scholars is 3.92 on a 4.0 scale.
The selection committee consisted of Antonio Causarano, Yousra Javed, Kee-Yoon Nahm, Michele Shropshire, Charles Su, and Pui Ying Tong of the Illinois State faculty; current Bone Scholar Megan Lowe; Foundation Association representative Dan Kelley; and Alumni Association representative Brent Scholl.
Honorees, their hometown, and their major(s) include:
Lauren Benduha, of Arlington Heights – integrated marketing communications, advanced marketing analytics
Mehdi Bennis, of Casablanca, Morocco – molecular and cellular biology
Emily Brownlie, of Elmhurst – nursing
Isabel Crabtree, of O’Fallon – advanced marketing analytics
Chloe Horn, of Litchfield – music education
Jack Jordan, of Wheaton – history – social sciences, teacher education
Gabriela Ledesma, of Panama – international business
Jaye Mack, of Lee’s Summit, Mo. – interior design
Quinn Mackenzie, of Downers Grove – physics education
Jessica Miller, of New Milford, Conn. – mathematics education
Sara O’Dowd, of Fox Lake – political science, philosophy
Rosalie Truback, of Lemont – audio and music production, music performance
Jayden Wilburn-Johnson, of Olympia Fields – sociology
Sarah Williams, of Morrisonville, Christian County – psychology
