AIAS Announces Philanthropic Scholarship Recipients For 2011

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences today announced the four recipients of its annual Randy Pausch and Mark Beaumont Scholarships, who will each receive $2,500 to put towards their game-related education. "There is an incredible amount of young, creative talent in the interactive entertainment industry who will be building and driving the next evolution of video games," AIAS president Martin Rae said in a statement. "We are honored to be able to contribute to these talented individuals’ educational pursuits." Hunter Ian Hart of Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy and Melissa Kronenberger of Savannah College of Art & Design won this year's Randy Pausch Scholarship, established in 2008 to support students pursuing careers in the development of interactive entertainment. The award is named after the late Carnegie Mellon professor and co-founder of the school's Entertainment Technology Center, a fact that wasn't lost on either recipient. "[Pausch]'s legacy to 'Dream Big' has left an indelible footprint on the interactive entertainment community for the next generation of game makers to create games that not only entertain, but stimulate young minds to pursue their own dreams," Hart said in a statement. "Randy Pausch made great strides in legitimizing video game education, and I am absolutely honored to receive a scholarship bearing his name," added Kronenberg. Logan McEwan of Florida State University and Joshua Cain of Duke University were selected as the second set of winners for the Mark Beaumont Scholarship, named for the late COO of Capcom North America and Europe, and given to students pursuing careers in the business of interactive entertainment. "Nothing is more exciting than the interactive media industry and this scholarship will help me find my place in the legal sector therein," McEwan said in a statement. "My excitement for the future is matched only by my appreciation for this honor." "My intention is to work for a video game publisher and ultimately be responsible for helping to create the kinds of games that I would want to play," added Cain. "The Beaumont Scholarship will help me turn this dream into a reality."