November 12, 1996
Contact: Joe Lilly
502-564-7670

LOUISVILLE, Ky., -- Governor Paul E. Patton today announced that 20 Kentucky colleges and universities have committed to offer some 50 scholarships to participants in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held in Louisville, May 10-16, 1997. ISEF is regarded as the world's most prestigious international science fair for high school students, and the 1997 ISEF at the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville expects to draw more than 1200 students from throughout the world.

"We expect that this scholarship money will encourage many of the best and the brightest science students from Kentucky and the world to attend college in the Commonwealth," said Governor Patton. "In addition, ISEF will showcase the benefits of a strong science education, and we're confident that many Kentucky high school students will be inspired by what they see here at this event and will choose to pursue careers in science-related fields."

According to Dr. Roy Peterson, Secretary of the Education, Arts and Humanities Cabinet, the scholarships that have been committed have an estimated value of at least $250,000 per year. "Many of these scholarships will be for four years, and so the total value of the scholarships could be in excess of one million dollars," he stated. "This will be a magnificent drawing card to attract the world's best science students to Kentucky's colleges and universities."

In addition to the scholarships, Governor Patton also announced that Kentucky state government has committed some $100,000 to help fund operating expenses required to hold the fair in Louisville.

The Kentucky Educational Technology System (KETS), the nation's leading school technology initiative, also will be on display during the fair. Students will be able to use as many as 20 fully networked computers in a "KETS Cafe" area to search the Internet for research and other purposes. Additionally, to encourage some of these outstanding students to attend college in Kentucky, the "KETS Cafe" will provide access to Internet sites of all the colleges and universities in Kentucky.

The following colleges and universities have agreed to provide scholarships to ISEF participants: Alice Lloyd College, Bellarmine College, Berea College, Brescia College, Cumberland College, Eastern Kentucky University , Georgetown College , Kentucky State University , Kentucky Wesleyan College, Lindsey Wilson College, Morehead State University , Murray State University , Northern Kentucky University , Pikeville College, Sullivan College, Transylvania University , Union College, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University. Each participating institution will choose its scholarship winner from among ISEF participants, and each institution will control the terms of the scholarship.