LIVERMORE, CA – The Pedrozzi Foundation recently awarded $408,500 in scholarships to 112 local students. The 2017 Pedrozzi Scholars include community college, undergraduate and graduate students, eighteen percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college. These motivated and well-rounded students will be studying throughout California and across the country in the fall.

Additional scholarships were awarded this year due to the generosity of Livermore community members who funded scholarships, many in honor of peers, family members, and friends.

Howard and Elaine Storms funded an additional scholarship, this year in honor of Gene Hale, the first Pedrozzi Foundation Board President. Mr. Hale was a friend and business partner of Mario Pedrozzi who left his estate to establish the Foundation. The $11,000 Gene Hale Undergraduate Scholarship was awarded to Granada High School student Elijah Kane who plans to pursue a physics degree.

In additional to including plans in his estate to endow multiple future STEM (Science, Technology, Math and Engineering) scholarships, Pedrozzi Board Treasurer, John W. Houghton Jr. funded a current $10,000 undergraduate STEM scholarship awarded to Livermore High School student Anchal Sinha. “Supporting students now and into the future brings me great satisfaction. I am pleasantly surprised at how much fun and personally rewarding it has been to establish these scholarships. Expanding the legacy that Mario Pedrozzi left our community just feels right,” shares Houghton.

Miriam “Mim” John, retired Vice-President Sandia California, funded an additional 4-year undergraduate scholarship in memory of former Sandia employee Walter Bauer. “I was thrilled to learn that some of my former Sandia colleagues had established scholarships through the Pedrozzi Foundation in Walter Bauer’s honor. Walter, like Mario Pedrozzi, was an inspirational example of what an immigrant with drive and opportunity can accomplish. By providing these scholar-athlete scholarships to local youth, we are helping catalyze a bright future for them – and in the long run, for our community,” shares Mim. Emily Hawkins, 4-year member of both the Livermore High School varsity water polo and swim teams, was awarded the 2017 Walter Bauer Undergraduate Scholarship.

An anonymous Livermore couple recently endowed the Charles Amirkhanian Music Scholarship, which will be supporting composer Austin West as he transfers from Las Positas College to continue pursuing a music degree. These philanthropic and thoughtful community members are impressed with the Pedrozzi Foundation’s mission of creating a career and college bound culture for Livermore students, and found a match between their passion for music and philanthropic goals. They named the scholarship in honor of Charles Amirkhanian, a native Californian, composer, percussionist, sound poet and radio producer who co-founded the Other Minds Music Festival in 1992.

The Rotary Club of Livermore continued funding its Ed Rundstrom Vocational Scholarship through the Pedrozzi Foundation. Since 2005, the Club’s annual scholarship has been named in honor of educator and community leader Edwin Rundstrom. Rotary club members are proud to support students pursuing career training, such as this year’s recipient, Sadie Eldredge, whose studies will lead to a career as a radiology technologist.

Board President, Kathy Coyle funded a community college scholarship in honor and memory of her father, William Scott, and Gary Johnson funded an additional community college scholarship, awarded to Atziry Trujillo and Kyle Parsons, respectively. “Funding scholarships through the Pedrozzi Foundation is an impactful way for donors to honor someone significant in their lives and invest in Livermore students,” shares Kathy Coyle.

Since 2008, the Pedrozzi Foundation has awarded $3.6 million to almost 1,000 Livermore students. In addition to reducing their financial burden, these scholarships encourage students to dream big.

The community is invited to celebrate with the 2017 Pedrozzi Scholars at the annual Awards Recognition Event, Monday, May 22, 5:00 – 7:00 pm, at the Bankhead Theater (2400 First Street, Livermore). To congratulate the new Pedrozzi Scholars and support future ones, Patxi’s Pizza, Livermore will donate a portion of its May 22 proceeds to the Foundation.

Contact the Foundation at 925-456-3700 or info@Pedrozzi.org; visit Pedrozzi.org to learn more.

2017 Pedrozzi Scholars:

Community College Scholarships: Victoria Avila, Kaycee Bilke, Katherine Cama Diaz, Rachel DeSilva, Sadie Eldredge, Mary Rosary Flauta, Vanessa Hernandez Gasca, Andrew Long-Kettenhofen, Damien Machado, Fernando Medina, Earl Moseby Jr., Connor Parkerson, Kyle Parsons, Dominic Range, Diane Tapia, Mattie Tompkins, Atziry Trujillo, Kendall Van Schaack, Dalynn Wilcox

Undergraduate Scholarships: Claire Abele, Justin Allen, Garrett Almeida, Josefina Barrantes, Jaime Luis Benitez, Karissa Beran, Sarah Bettencourt, Ashleigh Bohling, Julia Cable, Jason Campbell, Emily Chong, Kayley Clark, Alexis Clewett, Brandon Cuy, Samantha Dukes, Zachariah Eme, Dillon Eng, Magen Fanopoulos Blackwell, Nathan Fish, Anthony Garcia, Jennifer Gibson, Arumi Godinez Gonzalez, Alexander Gonzalez, Eloisa Gutierrez, Jenna Hagan, Zuhal Hashimi, Alex Hattori, Emily Hawkins, Joshua Ison, Samuel Jeppson, Raina Jiang, Christian Johansson, Cameron Johnston, Madison Julson, Elijah Kane, Maxwell Koning, Cassidy Kovisto, Sophia Krafcik, Anna Leigh, Ryan MacDonell, Shelby Maloney, Colette Mardirossian, Julia Matthews, Morgan Mayhew, Erin McQueen, Shannon Meyer, Sierra Miller, Emily Moulton, Adele Myers, Ryan Myers, Riddhi Panchal, Sarah Passannante, Taylor Peterson, Matthew Pham, Jordan Phelps, Janna Pickett, Michael Puso Jr., Vignesh Rao, Katie Reddick, Benjamin Rocha, Lisette Rocha, Marvin Neil Sabas, Ethan Shang, Amanda Silveira, Leah Silveira, Anchal Sinha, Kayla Smith, Andrea Sommer, Nicole Stamps, Kiara Steinhorst, Lauren Stuart, Amber Tang, Karlie Teruya, Nolan Thompson, Stefan Tolido, Celeste Tomaschke, Erica Torres, Savannah Vasquez, Morgan Vonderach, David Wang, Austin West, Jenna Wilson, Sasha Wojcik, Tanner Wright, Abigail Youngblood, Joshua Zielinski .

Graduate Scholarships: Alexis Barone, Magdalyn Fiore, Kari Hazzard, Briant Jacobs, Molly Jow, Nadine Peinovich, Emmanuel Valenton

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ABOUT THE PEDROZZI FOUNDATION

The Pedrozzi Foundation provides college and vocational scholarships and resources to Livermore students. We believe that all students deserve the chance to pursue their educational and career goals and that the lack of finances or information should not be a barrier. Every day we create an impact by helping our students achieve their dreams. The Foundation was established by Mario Pedrozzi, a Livermore businessman, who left his estate as a gift to the community. Other community members are continuing Mr. Pedrozzi’s legacy by generously donating to this unique and high-impact community organization. Learn more at Pedrozzi.org.