Catherine Sullivan, a recent graduate of Arkansas State University, has been awarded a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship for 2002-2003.

The fellowship, valued at $8,000, is one of 52 awards and $460,000 that will be given this year to aid outstanding students in their first year of graduate study.

Sullivan, of Searsport, Maine, received her bachelor of fine arts in studio art from the College of Fine Arts in May 2001. She plans to pursue her master of fine arts degree at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Among her many achievements at ASU, Sullivan was an exchange student in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1999-2000. She was a President’s Scholar for the College of Fine Arts, and had an exhibit "MAX 2001 All About Paint" placed at the University of Memphis.

Sullivan’s husband is Joe Ford, and her parents are William Sullivan of Searsport, and Eleanor Norling of Stockton Springs, Maine.

Fellowship selection is based on undergraduate academic performance, leadership and service on campus and in the community, potential for success in graduate study, a personal statement of educational perspective, and letters of recommendation.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897, making it the oldest and largest national honor society. The organization is dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all fields of higher education, according to a spokesperson.

Headquartered on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge, La., Phi Kappa Phi annually inducts approximately 32,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni from 282 colleges and universities.

# # #