Scholarships & Awards

Zonta’s scholarship program operates at the local, national and International level.

Local

The Zonta Club of Adelaide has a local Scholarship Program involving Adelaide High School, Mitcham Girls High School and The University of Adelaide.

Secondary School Scholarships

Adelaide High School

Each year, a Year 11 girl is nominated by the school and receives a $1,000 scholarship. Contingent on her success she is eligible to continue to receive the scholarship in Year 12.

Criteria for selection includes academic merit, financial need and personal commitment to community service.
Recent recipients are:

Mitcham Girls High School

The secondary school scholarship program has recently expanded to focus on female Aboriginal students. A Year 11 Aboriginal student is nominated by the school for the $1,000 scholarship and contingent on her success will receive the scholarship again in Year 12. The first scholarship was awarded in 2013. In 2014 and following years, the Zonta Club of Adelaide will continue to offer these two scholarships.

The University of Adelaide Honours Scholarship

The winner is selected by a panel including the Chair of the Zonta Club of Adelaide’s Award Committee. It takes into account the applicant’s academic achievements and the quality, depth and usefulness of her post-graduate research. The scholarship is presented at an annual Awards Ceremony for all post graduate and undergraduate scholarship winners at the University of Adelaide.

An annual scholarship of $3,000 is awarded each year to a female graduate of the University of Adelaide’s School of Science and Engineering undertaking an Honours course. This award was initiated in 1975 as an open Fellowship Award granted to women to enable them to continue in an aspect of their chosen profession. In 2007, this became The University of Adelaide Honours Scholarship Program.

The purpose of the scholarship is to support a female student undertaking studies in maths, science or engineering to encourage more women to study subjects which have been traditionally male dominated.

Recent recipients include:

2011    Phiala Shanahan: Application of theoretical particle physics to dark matter
2012   Michelle Cruickshank: Synthesisation of a natural product shown to have anti-cancer properties
2013   Natalie Nateran: Identificaiton of causative mutations in three dominantly inherited rare diseases
2014   Madeline Boorman:  Petroleum Geology and Geophysics

2nd Year Gender Studies Prize

The Chair of Gender Studies at The University of Adelaide nominates the most worthy female candidate in Year 2 of the Gender Studies course for this annual scholarship of $500. The criteria is based on academic merit.

2012   Alison Pennington
2013   Xuan Lam
2014   Elise Bills

Women Of Achievement

Each year the Zonta Club of Adelaide seeks to recognise women who have made unique and noteworthy contributions in the community by advancing the status of women. The club recognises women in the community who demonstrate initiative, leadership, impact, commitment, personal achievement and success. Nominations are made by club members to the club’s Awards Committee who then make the final selection.

The Awards Night is a prestigious event often held at the Adelaide Town Hall where the Mayor of Adelaide welcomes the guests and presents the certificates.

Congratulations to the following women who received an award in 2014:

• Debbie Harrop    Medical/Emergency Services
• Rachel High    Arts/Drama and Disability Community Service
• Helen McLeod-Meyer    Community Service
• Ann Nelson   Business and Community Service
• Major Genevieve Rueger   Armed Services
• Professor Kaye Roberts-Thomson   Medical/Dentistry
• Natsuko Yoshimoto   Arts/Music

Amelia Earhart Fellowship Award

The Zonta International Foundation Amelia Fellowship was established in 1938 in honour of Amelia Earhart, famed pilot and Zontian. These Fellowships are open to women of all nationalities enrolled in a PhD/doctoral program at an institution offering fully accredited graduate courses and degrees in aerospace-related sciences and engineering. Each annual fellowship is valued at US$10,000 and is awarded to 35 women around the globe. Since the program’s inception, Zonta has awarded 1,403 Amelia Earhart Fellowships, totalling US$8.3 million, to women in 687 countries. 31 Australian women have been awarded a fellowship. Each summer, the Zonta Club of Adelaide hosts a breakfast in the parklands to raise funds for the fellowship. There is no local award for this fellowship. Applicants apply directly to Zonta International. More information can be found on the Zonta International website www.zonta.org

Jane M Klausman Women in Business Scholarship

This scholarship was established in 1998 from a bequest by Jane M Klausman, a member of the Zonta Club of Syracuse New York, USA. Scholarships are awarded annually to women pursuing undergraduate or master’s degrees in business management. Scholarships are available at the District level, with the successful young woman being eligible for one of the twelve US$7,000.00 scholarships awarded annually by the Zonta International Foundation. The Zonta Club of Adelaide selects a local application which then goes on to the District level. The successful District application is then forwarded to the International JMK Committee where twelve applicants across the globe are recommended for JMK International Scholarships. Since the program’s inception, Zonta has awarded 314 scholarships to women from 44 countries. In 2013, 3 Australians were awarded a scholarship. More information can be found on the Zonta International website.

Young Women in Public Affairs Award

Established in 1990, the Young Women in Public Affairs Award honours young women aged 16 to 19 who demonstrate a commitment to leadership in public policy, government and volunteer organizations. The program operates at the Zonta club, district and international levels. Zonta clubs provide awards for club recipients, and district and international awards are funded by the Zonta International Foundation. District recipients receive US$1,000, and ten international recipients are selected from the district recipients to receive awards of US$4,000.

Since the program’s inception, Zonta has given 679 awards totalling US$548,750 to 597 young women from 51 countries. More information can be found on the Zonta International website www.zonta.org.