Hodson Trust Awards $2.5 Million to Washington College for Science Scholarships, American History Center

Chestertown, MD, December 5, 2005 — Washington College has been awarded $2.5 million in grants from The Hodson Trust to establish merit scholarships for science majors and to support the College's C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, officials of the College have announced.

"For many decades, The Hodson Trust has played a critical role in the growth of our institution and the success of generations of our students," said Baird Tipson, President of the College. "The Trust's generosity has leveraged our success in academics and recruitment. We are grateful for its special commitment to private independent higher education in Maryland."

In its current grant to Washington College, The Trust has designated $1.25 million to establish a merit-based tuition scholarship program for students intending to major in the sciences. An additional $1.25 million is targeted for the College's C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, which opened in 2000. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College and Chestertown, the C. V. Starr Center is dedicated to scholarship and programming that explore the nation's founding era, the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture.

The Trust also has announced the naming of Hodson Foundation Minority Scholarship awards in memory of the late James H. Gilliam, Jr., an attorney, private investor, consultant, philanthropist, and former trustee of the Hodson Trust, executive vice president and general counsel at Beneficial Corporation, and member of the company's Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Mr. Gilliam was an alumnus of Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md., and a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law and the Wharton School's Advanced Management Program.

Hodson-Gilliam Scholarships are presented by Washington College through the generosity of The Hodson Trust to entering students from ethnic backgrounds that are traditionally under-represented in higher education. Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of academic and personal achievement.

A grade point average of 3.5 or higher, a rank in the upper 20 percent of the graduating class, a minimum SAT score of 1140, or a minimum ACT score of 25 is required for scholarship consideration. Awards range from $12,500 to $17,500 annually.

The Hodson Trust was established by the family of Colonel Clarence Hodson, founder of the Beneficial Corporation, to support excellence in education. Since 1920, The Hodson Trust has given more than $166 million to fund academic merit scholarships as well as research grants, technology improvements, facilities, library expansion, athletic programs, faculty salaries, and endowment funds at Johns Hopkins University, Hood, St. John's and Washington colleges.

For information about The Hodson Trust, visit www.hodsontrust.org.

Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in historic Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, it was the first college chartered in the new nation.