Published: March 15, 2011

StraussVaneKHumanities senior, Stephanie Strauss is one of twelve recipients of a Jacob Van Ek Scholar Award for 2011.

As a student with severeÌýdyslexia, Stephanie has worked hard to be successful academically. This includes spending thousands of hours of painstaking effort dedicated to improving her reading fluency. She is now involved with theÌýÌýand has spoken at three of their events. She is also the only student board member for the local branch.

Stephanie aims to become an advocate for students with learning disabilities and would like to teach atÌý, Vt, where she spent a year as a student before transferring to the University of Colorado at Boulder. The school specializes in teaching students with dyslexia or ADHD.

The College of Arts and Sciences honors outstanding undergraduate students with the Jacob Van Ek Scholar Awards to recognize superior academic achievement combined with distinguished service to the university or the community at large.

The award is made possible by Jacob Van Ek, who was Dean of the College from 1929 to 1959. The Award includes a prize of $325 to assist with end-of-year college expenses.