Student Receives Holstrom Architectural Scholarship

Stephanie Pile, a fifth-year student in architecture at Kansas State University from Centennial, Colorado, has been awarded The John E. Holstrom Alpha Tau Omega Architectural Scholarship.

The 21^st Holstrom Scholarship of $1,000, along with a plaque and certificate, was presented to Pile at Architecture Evening on September 18, 2009, by Kansas State Alpha Tau Omega Students’ Aid Endowment Fund President William L. Muir and Chapter President Jared M. Schnefke. Pile’s name will also be added to a plaque located in Seaton Hall’s Weigel Library.

According to the Holstrom award nomination submitted by the faculty, “If architecture students are educated and trained to be leaders in their communities, then Stephanie Pile is at the top of her peers.” As a K-State student, she has participated in a wide range of activities, including membership in the American Institute of Architecture Students; as treasurer of the Department of Architecture Plot Club; as a College of Architecture, Planning and Design (CAPD) ambassador; as a CAPD DesignExpo volunteer; and as a KSU Telefund caller.

Her academic performance earned Pile membership in Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, was recognized with the Max D. Bishop Memorial Scholarship and the Charles W. Shaver Scholarship. She received honorable mention in the 2009 CAPD Student Rendering Exhibit and Competition (freehand color category) and second place in the 2008 CAPD Student Rendering Exhibit and Competition (computer category).  She also participated in the spring 2009 CAPD Study Abroad experience at Centro Studi Cittá di Orvieto, Orvieto, Italy.

Pile has been a teaching assistant in the Computing in Architecture class where her advanced knowledge of various software for digital rendering benefitted students in the course. She has also served summer internships at architectural firms, including Tryba Architects in Denver and Godden|Sudik in Centennial, Colorado, where her primary responsibilities included preparing marketing brochures and competition submissions.

The Holstrom Scholarship, established in 1990, is named after John E. Holstrom, a 1968 initiate of the Kansas State University chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and 1972 Kansas State University graduate who died in December of 1989 at the age of 40. The stated purposes of this scholarship are “to perpetuate the memory of John E. Holstrom on the campus of Kansas State University and to provide educational opportunities and assistance for fifth-year architecture students who possess exemplary attributes in scholarship, fellowship and character.”

The Kansas State Alpha Tau Omega Students’ Aid Endowment Fund, in conjunction with the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, established the Holstrom Scholarship. An endowed gift of $20,000 from the architectural firm of Weeter-Kienast-Alexander (WKA) of Dallas, Texas, which was Holstrom’s firm, is the largest part of this endowment.

To be eligible, a student must have at least a 2.75 grade point average and “judged to be of good character and sound academic standing and who has contributed to the quality of life of the Department of Architecture, the College of Architecture, Planning and Design and Kansas State University. The recipient should demonstrate a high interest and ability in the field of architecture, with demonstrated professional promise. In all other respects, this scholarship will be awarded without restriction to gender, race, handicap, religion or national origin.”

The finalists for this scholarship are chosen by a screening committee within the Department of Architecture selected by the head of the department. The screening committee provides a written assessment of each finalist, describing and evaluating potential, scholastic aptitude, exemplary fellowship, outstanding character and contributions to the university. The head of the Department of Architecture, in consultation with the dean of Architecture, Planning and Design, selects the recipient.

Tim de Noble, dean of the KSU College of Architecture, Planning and Design, commented, “We are very pleased to be able to offer this scholarship to an outstanding fifth-year architecture student. Special thanks to the local Alpha Tau Omega Endowment Fund and the WKA architectural firm for making this scholarship a reality, and congratulations to Stephanie Pile on being the scholarship recipient.”

Peter Magyar, head of the KSU Department of Architecture, said, “Stephanie Pile is one of our top students and possesses good, all-around qualities that fit the criteria for this scholarship.”

William L. Muir, president of the Kansas State Alpha Tau Omega Students’ Aid Endowment Fund, stated, “We are extremely proud to have the opportunity to award this scholarship in memory of John Holstrom to such an outstanding architecture student as Stephanie Pile. John loved architecture, he loved life in general, and he loved Kansas State University. It is very appropriate that we memorialize his life of service with this scholarship.”