Last modified: Tuesday, August 8, 2006
LaPorte's Taylor named Wells Scholar at IU
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 10, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Miles Taylor from LaPorte, Ind., has been selected as a Wells Scholar at Indiana University, one of 19 entering freshmen so honored. He will this fall join more than 320 others who have been named Wells Scholars since 1990.
The scholarship, named in honor of the late IU Chancellor Herman B Wells, ranks among the most competitive and prestigious awards offered by any American university. Since its inception, more than two dozen Wells Scholars have gone on to earn prestigious Rhodes, Truman, Marshall, Soros, Mitchell, Churchill, Fulbright and Goldwater scholarships for advanced study.
Valedictorian of LaPorte High School, Taylor was honored as a U.S. Senate Youth Scholar, a Washington Crossing Foundation National Scholar and a U.S. Steel National Scholar. Active in speech and debate, he won the state championship in the congress event. A United States Congressional Page his junior year, he was selected to work for Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. While in Washington, D.C., he served as chairman of the student energy policy task force and won the Best in Committee designation in the U.S. House of Representatives Page Model Congress.
After his senior year, Taylor interned with the Arms Control Association. As a reporter and anchor for a LaPorte radio station, he interviewed government experts and commentators, including U.S. law-makers and Indiana governors. He co-founded The Young American Civics Initiative, an organization that promotes civic awareness among high school and college students. At his high school, he served on student council as class president and was a member of National Honor Society, the newspaper staff and the Academic Super Bowl team.
In addition, he represented his school at Hoosier Boys State and volunteered as a grant writing assistant for the LaPorte Hospital Foundation. He plans to study public policy analysis, international relations and security studies, and development studies.
Many previous Wells Scholars today contribute to Indiana as residents who are attorneys, doctors, school teachers and business people, and even an ordained minister. Others have gone on to clerk for Indiana and U.S. Supreme Court justices, are engaged in international relief and service efforts and are scholars at other renowned educational institutions such as Harvard Business School and Cornell Law School. There are Wells Scholars currently serving in the Armed Forces and other positions in government.
To honor Wells, IU created the Wells Scholars Program, which began with fund-raising efforts in 1988 and the appointment of Professor Breon Mitchell as its founding director. In 1990, IU welcomed its first class of Wells Scholars and on June 7, 1992, Wells' 90th birthday, he was officially presented with the Wells Scholars Program, as a gift from his many friends and admirers. After his death in the spring of 2000, this community of talented and dedicated young scholars remains as a permanent legacy of his educational vision.
Wells Scholars receive full tuition and course-related fees, as well as a living stipend for four years of undergraduate study on the Bloomington campus of IU. The program also offers special seminars, an optional year of study abroad, and support for a summer research project or internship. The Wells program emphasizes close interaction with faculty, academic and career advising, opportunities for community service, and contact with distinguished visitors.
Wells Scholars are selected for having demonstrated exceptional qualities of character and leadership and distinction both inside and outside of the classroom.
