Five U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen were recently awarded a Stamps Scholarship, a merit-based academic scholarship that assists students associated with studying abroad, experiential learning opportunities, and undergraduate research internships.
The following midshipmen were awarded a Stamps Scholarship: Midshipman 3rd Class (sophomore) Mia Dhillon, 18, of Chicago; Midshipman 3rd Class (sophomore) Adrien Richez, 20, of Atlanta; Midshipman 3rd Class (sophomore) Abigail Ward, 19, of Pasadena, Maryland; Midshipman 3rd Class (sophomore) Jada Williams, 20, of Philadelphia; and Midshipman 3rd Class (sophomore) Joshua Wilson, 21, of Miami.
Dhillon is an applied physics major with a focus in chemistry and biology at the Naval Academy. She is currently working in collaboration with researchers at Naval Research Laboratory Washington to model the temperature profile of cone and rod-shaped carbon fibers. Dhillon plans to pursue physics as a medium to view the world quantitatively through which she can be creative in both thought and on paper.
Outside the classroom, Dhillon is a member of several midshipman faith organizations, the medicine club, the Gospel Choir, and the Navy Women’s Ice Hockey Team. She has held several leadership positions, including company Midshipmen Action Group (MAG) representative and battalion physics tutor.
Richez is an aerospace engineering major at the Naval Academy. He is conducting ongoing research under the supervision of Dr. Karl Battams of the heliophysics division at the Naval Research Laboratory and Dr. Matthew Knight of the Naval Academy Physics Department. His work aims to dramatically improve the efficiency of photometric data analysis from the LASCO instrument of NASA’s/ESA’s SOHO satellite by perfecting the code used to automate the photometry process of images taken by the instrument’s coronagraphs. Richez is also an engineer on the Robotic Repair Satellite Program, where he is working on a proof of concept for operating robotic arms aboard the International Space Station.
In his free time, Richez is a member of the Navy Men’s Heavyweight Rowing team, the head of simulator operations for the Naval Academy’s flight training squadron, and the lead advanced ground instructor for the Naval Academy’s Powered Flight Program. He has a special interest in contributing to the United States’ space exploration program, and hopes to one day aid humanity’s journey to the stars.
Ward is a computer science major and a Chinese minor at the Naval Academy. Originally born in Guangzhou, China, Ward is interested in building a greater political and cultural understanding of Southeast Asia, particularly as it relates to cyber security and natural language processing. She intends to use the Stamps Scholarship to build her cross-cultural competency and be an asset to the U.S. government as it focuses on the Indo-Pacific region and its challenges.
Ward has held several leadership positions, including design officer for the Naval Academy’s Chinese Culture Club, MAG company representative, and media lead for the Midshipman Diversity Team. She is also a member of the Navy Women’s Rugby team.
Williams is a quantitative economics major and an ACCEL scholar at the Naval Academy. She has an interest in foreign affairs, economics, and economic policy, and plans to pursue graduate education in counterterrorism and homeland security or diplomacy and conflict studies. She recently traveled to Israel on a Naval Academy-sponsored Language, Regional Expertise and Culture trip, where she studied Arabic at the University of Haifa. Williams is part of the third battalion training staff and a peer writing tutor.
Wilson is an ocean engineering major with a Japanese minor, and an ACCEL scholar at the Naval Academy. He plans to use his interest in environmental ocean engineering to help create a more sustainable world. Before attending the Naval Academy, Wilson spent two years at the Miami Dade Honors College where he participated in the Salzburg Global Citizen Seminar.
Wilson has held numerous company leadership positions, including operations corporal, LEAD corporal, and academic corporal, as well as a Summer STEM squad leader. He is currently the Midshipman Black Studies Club historian and the National Society of Black Engineers diversity officer. Outside of academic and leadership responsibilities, Wilson is a member of the Naval Academy Jiujitsu team and has earned a tan belt through the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
In 2006, Penny and Roe Stamps created merit scholarship programs for undergraduates at their alma maters – the University of Michigan and Georgia Tech. Since then, the Stamps Scholars community has grown into a national network of visionary colleges and universities that partner with the Stamps Scholars Program to award multi-year scholarships that help driven and talented student leaders achieve their education and life goals. The program has grown to 37 colleges and universities with 2,389 current and alumni Stamps Scholars.
For more information on the Stamps Scholarship please visit https://www.stampsscholars.org.
For more information about the Naval Academy please visit www.usna.edu or their Facebook page.
