In addition to her role as Associate Dean for Student Services at the School of Engineering, Ilene Rosen has advised the Rutgers chapter of the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHE) for 38 years. During that time the chapter has grown into what she describes as “one of the largest, most respected, most active and most cooperative organizations not only at the School of Engineering, but in New Brunswick.”
In 1997, SHE honored her by creating the Dr. Ilene Rosen Scholarship when she earned her Ed.D. degree. According to Rosen, the SHE students wanted to recognize her achievement with the scholarship, which would go to a member of the SHE Familia who embodied attributes from a commitment to community service to leadership and organizational abilities.
An additional component of the scholarship charged each year’s recipient with raising funds as a way to continue the scholarship for the year ahead.
Since then, the award has continued to go to SHE members, with the intention of making a significant impact on the recipient’s overall financial need. At this year’s annual SHE Banquet on May 3, senior Nathaly Alpapucho, Rosen reports, “was the last student to receive the award before it becomes institutionalized as an endowed scholarship through the Office of Financial Aid.
At the banquet, Rosen remarked how she had been “caught off guard” by the creation of the original scholarship. “I was also not expecting David Tabora, ENG BS ’99, MS ’01, a former SHE president, to reach out to me after attending our alumni dinner a couple of years ago with the idea of raising funds to endow the scholarship. By reaching out to the SHE alumni network, the Dr. Ilene Rosen Scholarship was quickly endowed.
“So, yes, I definitely feel honored,” she continued. “And I am also honored by the opportunity I have had to see people grow, whether as leaders, or academicians, or researchers.”
According to Rosen, the newly endowed scholarship would relieve students from the responsibility of raising funds each year. “Dave also liked knowing that an endowed scholarship would live on,” she says.“
While one student will receive the new award next year, Rosen hopes the funds will grow so that two students might be recognized each year.
“I love knowing that each year one or more hardworking, dedicated, and caring students will be recognized with this award,” Rosen says.
