Pearl I. Young Scholarship

The NDSGC established the prestigious Pearl I. Young Space Grant Award for a student at the University of North Dakota. This $2500 award honors the ideals of scholarship as exemplified by Pearl I. Young. Undergraduate and graduate students who meet the criteria below are encouraged to apply. Applicants will ideally be involved in a research project of NASA relevance.

Young grew up in North Dakota and attended school there. At age 11 she left home to work as a domestic to attend high school. After attending Jamestown College she transferred to the University of North Dakota. She graduated from UND in 1919 as a Phi Beta Kappa with a triple major in physics, mathematics, and chemistry. Despite her heavy course load, financial necessity dictated that Young work while pursuing her studies. She served as a laboratory assistant in the Physics Department and worked for the U.S. Weather Bureau. After graduation she taught physics for two years at UND. She then accepted an appointment at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia. She was the first woman hired as a technical employee, a physicist of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); that agency later became NASA. She was the second woman hired as a physicist by the federal government. When Young died in 1968 her obituary noted that she had been a scientist, university professor, journalist, lecturer, author, and world traveler.

Funding

• $2,500 per scholarship

Eligibility

The student:

• must be enrolled at the University of North Dakota
• must be a U.S. Citizen
• must be in good academic standing
• must identify as a woman, girl, trans, non-binary, or gender expansive
• must be pursuing a STEM or STEM Education degree

Nursing majors are ineligible for NDSGC scholarships, per NASA rules and regulations.

See NDSGC homepage for general eligibility and funding details.

Deadline

Applications open one month prior to deadline:

• February 15^th

How to Apply

Please reference the application guidance for more details. Contact the NDSGC team with questions.

Apply Now!

Past Funding Recipients