Lori Keen Scholarship

When Dr. Lily Shen came to Calvin in 1990 from mainland China, she had extremely limited access to communication with her family in China because it took more than one month for letters to travel across the Pacific and the telephone was not available for the vast majority of residents in China, not to mention it cost more than $3 each minute to call China. Lori Keen became Lily’s manager, best friend, mentor, older sister, and Lori’s extended families became Lily’s extended families. Lily often struggled to find peers with similar interests and curiosity as at that time the world was not as globalized and connected as it is today, but Lori had the mindset, the curiosity and the heart that transcended borders, cultural and ideological differences. In today’s environment, this quality is invaluable and will endure the test of time. Lori’s intellectual curiosity and empathy for others was evident to anyone who interacted with Lori at the lab prep area. Lori is a vector of compassion and joy. Dr. Shen hopes the recipients of this scholarship will get to benefit from this vector and will spread their compassion, intellectual curiosity and joy to others.

Basic criteria:

• entering junior or senior year
• majoring in biology
• financial need is considered
• first preference is for an international student

Renewal criteria: Students who wish to be considered for renewal must file a new application each year and will be given equal consideration with other candidates.