RSU sophomore Brady Buell has been named the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Roy A. Lawrence Endowed Scholarship, awarded to a deserving engineering student.
Rogers State University sophomore Brady Buell has been named the recipient of a scholarship to support his studies in chemical engineering.
Buell, a resident of Chelsea, is the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Roy A. Lawrence Endowed Scholarship.
According to Chemical Engineering Program Director Dr. Alexander Lopez, Buell was an “ideal choice” to be the first recipient of this scholarship.
“I created an application form asking applicants to discuss their GPA, accomplishments, extracurricular efforts outside of the classroom, and to identify any merits for financial need,” Lopez said. “Brady was selected from a committee of three – myself and two departmental faculty members – as the most-deserving recipient.”
Buell was honored to receive the scholarship and noted the impact it will make for him.
“This scholarship will be a tremendous help to me financially. I’m very grateful for it,” Buell said.
Buell has a 4.0 grade point average and is a full-time student at RSU, while also working at Walmart in Claremore and serving as a volunteer teacher’s aide for Pryor Public Schools as his schedule allows.
As he relies heavily on student loans to meet the financial needs of his attendance in college, the scholarship is “invaluable” to helping him fund his education.
Following graduation, Buell said he hopes to use his degree to work toward developing clean and sustainable energy.
RSU began offering its first engineering program in 2023 with the launch of its Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering. Lopez was named the director of the chemical engineering program in July 2024.
Dr. Roy A. Lawrence
Established at RSU in September 2024, the Dr. Roy A. Lawrence Endowed Scholarship honors the legacy of Dr. Roy Lawrence, who was an alumnus of RSU’s predecessor institution, the Oklahoma Military Academy.
This endowment provides funds for academic scholarships for deserving students attending RSU and majoring in engineering. It is the first endowment created to support an engineering program at Rogers State University.
“We are grateful to Dr. Lawrence’s family for their support and for choosing to target their endowment toward engineering,” said Steve Valencia, vice president for development. “Enrollment in the chemical engineering program has far exceeded our expectations and we need additional support to meet the scholarship needs of the program. The Lawrence endowment gets the ball rolling for RSU.”
Learn more about RSU’s Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering.