Illinois Medicine

scholarships b y M e li s s a M al e s k e an d R i cha rd As a Paragons of Student Excellence First half-dozen Sweeney Scholarship recipients grateful for the chance to achieve new heights T Photo: Lloyd DeGrane he College of Medicine has opened its doors to a group of highachieving students who will receive full scholarships if they maintain superior academic standards. The first six recipients of the Raymond Nester Sweeney Scholarships, established with a new endowment, will complete their M1 year this spring. The late Sweeney, a 1968 graduate who believed his College of Medicine education was key to his success, spent most of his career as a radiologist in Terre Haute, Ind. His estate gift of $20 million also has established endowed professorships at the college. The merit-based Sweeney Scholarships cover full tuition for the first two years of medical school but then, Sweeney Scholars will be evaluated based on their national Board Examination performance and required to score one standard deviation higher than the national average to continue to qualify for their final two years. The overall endowment, says Dean Dimitri Azar, MD, MBA, helps the college fulfill its mission to attract top-level students and enable them to focus on their dreams and goals first and their debt second. "The college is determined to actively recruit and graduate high-achieving students," the dean says. "The Sweeney Scholarship takes us one large step further toward achieving that mission." 30 | Spr i n g 2 013

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