The UConn Foundation created the award, which honors top academically achieving Black male seniors at the University of Connecticut. The award is a source of inspiration for many at UConn. The recipients this year were Noah Sneed, Mason Bickham, and Josiah Mendez.

• Noah Sneed had a 3.93 GPA and has a major in Animal Science and a second major in Pathobiology.
• Mason Bickham had a 3.81 GPA, and is a Psychological Sciences major, with a concentration in Africana Studies, Human Dev, and Family Sciences
• Josiah Mendez had a 3.58 GPA, and is a Computer Science & Engineering Masters major, with a concentration in Software Design and Development.

ScHOLA²RS House is a Learning Community designed to support the scholastic efforts of male students who identify as African American/Black through academic and social support, access to research opportunities, and professional development.

Throughout his career, Laurencin has devoted his life to pioneering research and clinical care. He has also been passionate about his work mentoring young people in engineering, science, medicine, and the humanities. At UConn he has created and established a number of mentoring/educational programs, including the UConn Young Innovative Investigator Program, the UConn Pre-K Scholars Program, and the Presidential M1 Mentorship Award Program. He has been the Principal Investigator of UConn’s NIH T32 Pre-Doctoral Program in Regenerative Engineering, an NIH Diversity Award Pre-Doctoral Training Grant, an NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Grant Award, a National Science Foundation Research, Experience and Mentoring Grant, and a grant award from the Department of Education focused on K-12 mentoring.

Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D., earned a B.S.E. degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. He completed Harvard Medical School earning his M.D. Magna Cum Laude and completed his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At UConn Laurencin is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine, professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is chief executive officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, a cross-university institute created in his honor at the University of Connecticut.

Laurencin is the recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS Mentor Award, the Beckman Award for Mentoring and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Math Mentoring. Besides the Scholars House Award named for him, the Society for Biomaterials created the Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. Travelling Fellowship, the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Institute and the National Medical Association created the Cato T. Laurencin Lifetime Research Achievement Award, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers created the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award, honoring his work as the pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering.