Scholarship Overview

An endowed scholarship established by Michael C. Doherty to honor the memory of Alison MacDonald Doherty, a 1980 graduate of James Madison University, who emphasized during her lifetime the importance of research to understand how environmental contaminants move through and are affected by geological formations. While a student she helped teach historical geology and participated in field geology excursions. For her own research, she examined karst formations in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. As an environmental hydrogeologist, she worked for several nationally known environmental firms. Alison investigated several Superfund sites as well as underground contamination at Department of Defense and Department of Energy installations.

To benefit students at her alma mater, she convinced her employer to drill a well at the university farm in order to show students how to log soils as the drill auger brought them up from underground. At the end of her life, she resided in Germantown, Maryland. Also a strong proponent of the importance of education, Michael C. Doherty graduated from Hartwick College in 1973 with a degree in Biology. He later earned a Master's degree in Environmental Pollution Control from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Service Corps and a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Alison M. Doherty '80 Endowment for Geology Student Research Scholarships will provide funds annually to one (or more) outstanding undergraduate student scholar(s) conducting research in the field of geological and environmental science. The appointment of student(s) as Alison M. Doherty '80 Scholar(s) shall follow the University's guidelines for the awarding of scholarships.

Annual award amount

Need Based
No

Eligibility Criteria
Freshmen   Sophomore   Junior   Senior  

GPA

Award Announcement