LANL Foundation Awards Over $884k in Scholarships to Northern New Mexico Students

The LANL Foundation has named the recipients of this year’s four-year undergraduate degree grants. 128 Northern New Mexico students pursuing bachelor’s degrees will earn 132 scholarships totaling more than $884,000!

The LANL Foundation offers four-year undergraduate scholarships to students seeking degrees in any field of study. The scholarships vary from $1,000 for one year to $20,000 for four years. Recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated dedication to academic excellence, leadership, and service.

“We received a record number of applications this year and awarded more scholarships than ever before,” said Mike Ammerman, Scholarship Program Director for the LANL Foundation. “The students who rose to the top in this highly competitive selection process are truly amazing, and we are honored to welcome them to our LANL Scholars community.”

This year’s $20,000 Gold Scholarship awardees include:

Svetlana Backhaus, Calvert Academy – Svetlana intends to pursue a degree in computer science or data science, with a focus on machine learning (AI). She describes herself as an “unapologetic math geek” and works as a math instructor at Northern New Mexico College. Svetlana finished an apprenticeship with STEMarts and now works as an intern at LANL, where her mentor says she “is without a doubt among the top 2% of high school graduates I have ever encountered.”

Daniel Kim, Los Alamos High School – Daniel intends to pursue an electrical engineering degree and has worked as an electrical engineering intern at LANL. Daniel has received multiple STEM accolades, including third place in the International Science & Engineering Fair, a finalist for the Regeneron Science Talent Search Top 300 Scholar, first place in the New Mexico Junior Academy of Science Paper, and winner of the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge. Daniel is also a talented athlete and musician who has contributed hundreds of hours to community work.

Arial Maldonado, Escalante High School – Arial will graduate with an Associate of Science in Pre-Engineering and intends to pursue a degree in mathematics. She has received multiple national STEM honors and was the only female student chosen to compete in the MathCounts program, where she earned the highest score on her team.

Arial performed an internship with NASA, where she investigated the cost growth of interplanetary trips. Arial also teaches English to Ukrainian kids, acts as student senate president, and captains the cheerleading team.

Since 1999, the LANL Foundation has awarded approximately 2,500 scholarships worth over $12 million! These scholarships would not be available without the generous contributions of the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund (LAESF) Advisory Committee and the LANL workforce. In 2023, LANL employees donated roughly $445,000 to LAESF, while Triad National Security provided $178,000 in scholarship support.

Scholarships are also made possible by community members who have entrusted the LANL Foundation and the LAESF Advisory Committee with managing their named and endowed scholarship funds. Click here to see the full list of this year’s awardees.

Since 1997, the LANL Foundation has supported education, learning, and human potential in Northern New Mexico. The LANL Foundation works via various programming and collaboration with important partners to guarantee that all New Mexicans have the skills and confidence they need to be self-sufficient lifelong learners who are involved in their communities.

The LANL Foundation is committed to improving students’ access to academic and technical opportunities, leading to quality jobs, by promoting college and career preparedness in schools, districts, communities, Pueblos, Tribes, and Nations.