Robyn Lee Bowers, a 2002 graduate of Denison University from Enon, Ohio, has recently been awarded the Sears Directors' Cup Postgraduate Scholarship. Bowers was one of four students selected for the award, a $5000 grant to be used toward postgraduate studies, from among the nation's 400-plus NCAA Division III colleges.

The scholarship will be presented at the 37th Annual Convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) being held June 16-19 in Dallas. The scholarship ceremony will occur at the NACDA Scholarship Awards Luncheon, presented by Sears, on Tuesday, June 18. Spencer Tillman of CBS Sports will serve as emcee.

Bowers, Denison's 2002 valedictorian, graduated with a B.A. on May 12 with highest honors and a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. Through her academic career as a double major in English and Latin, she was an invaluable asset to Denison's athletic department as both a women's basketball assistant coach and as a sports information assistant.

Sears Directors' Cup postgraduate scholarships are earmarked for students who have served in an athletics support capacity at four-year institutions. This includes students from the categories of academic support, bands, equipment and facility assistants, sports information assistants, student coaches and trainers.

Bowers was was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honorary, as a junior, and was among six 2002 Denison seniors who were honored as President's Medalists during the University's annual Academic Awards Convocation in April. (The President's Medal was established in 1985 as Denison's highest and most prestigious honor, recognizing students who have demonstrated not only intellectual achievement, but also have made other significant contributions to the community in such areas as global awareness, athletic fitness, leadership and campus discourse.)

As a Denison undergraduate, Bowers was named a member of Eta Sigma Phi, the national honorary for students of Latin and Greek, was a consistent Dean's List student, held a Faculty Scholarship for Achievement. She was also a Robert C. Byrd Scholar, an Ohio Academic Scholar and winner of a Juliet Barker Sarett Scholarship. Bowers was twice granted Denison's Young Scholar Award to pursue collaborative research with a faculty member on campus during the summer. She also was the winner of the Wilson Writing Contest Prize for Scholarly Writing. Her honors project title was "'Non sum ego qui fueram': The Interaction of Desire and Identity in Roman Elegy and the Problem Comedies of Shakespeare."

Bowers also served as president of Omicron Delta Kappa, the international leadership honorary, and was named to Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. She was editor-in-chief ofArticulate,a forum for cultural and literary criticism, and wrote forJudy,a feminist journal. Bowers also was sports editor ofThe Denisonian,the student newspaper. A member of the Campus Environment Team, the General Education Task Force and the Academic Affairs Council, she was a member of the student staffs for June and August Orientation programs.

The other Division III Sears Directors' Cup Postgraduate Scholarship winners were Kemper Beasley, a sports information assistant from Hampden-Sydney College (Va.); Christopher Goggin, a sports information assistant from Williams College (Mass.); and Terri Travers, a women's basketball assistant from Juniata College (Pa.).

In the near term, Bowers plans to work for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Washington, D.C., but she retains an interest in college athletics and is likely to pursue collegiate coaching in postgraduate study and as a profession.

A graduate of Shawnee High School in Springfield, Ohio, Bowers is the daughter of Melanie and Gary Bowers of Enon.

Denison University, located in, was founded in 1831 and is a privately supported, coeducational college of liberal arts and sciences, offering three different bachelor's degrees (B.A., B.S. and B.F.A.) among more than 40 majors and concentrations. Some 2,100 full-time undergraduate students represent 47 states and 34 foreign countries. Denison is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) and a founding member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Denison's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1910. Dale T. Knobel is Denison's 19th president. Denison's endowment funds are approaching $500 million.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

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