Nominated by their professors, honorees across North America selected for displaying leadership, growth and academic success.
Recipients of the first annual Top Hat Scholarship attend Ohio University, Michigan State University, Texas A&M, University of North Georgia and Dalhousie University.
Top Hat, an active learning platform for higher education, has awarded scholarships worth a combined $100,000 USD to five exceptional North American students for their academic achievements and the positive learning environments they helped foster. “Our mission is to make teaching affordable, fun and effective,” said Mike Silagadze, co-founder and CEO of Top Hat. “These five students exemplify what happens when professors and students embrace technology as a tool to provide a richer, more personalized and engaging learning experience.”
The winners
Each student who received a scholarship saw material improvements in their academic performance as a result of using Top Hat’s interactive digital platform. “Our first place winner just completed her freshman year,” said Silagadze. “As an in-state student at Ohio University, she’ll now be able to focus on her studies and pursue her interests without worrying about the financial burden of tuition payments.”
The 2019 Top Hat Scholarship student winners are:
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$50,000 scholarship
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Delia Grantham
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Ohio University
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$20,000 scholarship
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Emma Rice
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Michigan State University
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$10,000 scholarship
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Patryk Tomaszkiewicz
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Texas A&M University
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$10,000 scholarship
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Hope Long
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University of North Georgia
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$10,000 scholarship
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Nicole Blinn
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Dalhousie University
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These scholarships will enable the students to continue their academic achievements and lay the foundation for their contributions to the broader community.
First-place winner: Delia Grantham
During her freshman year at Ohio University, first-place winner Delia Grantham worked five days a week in addition to going to college. She plans to enter social work when she’s finished her undergrad degree.
“I would love to get the scholarship to be able to free my schedule so I can get more involved in helping other parts of the community,” she told Silagadze just before he revealed she’d won. “Athens, Ohio is a very impoverished county. I would love to go out and help people and serve meals—the after-school things I saw my classmates get to do. When I think about helping others, I get teary eyed because of how much I want to make a difference.”
