09-04-2008

ETC Student Wins Pausch Scholarship

Lisa Brown, a first-year graduate student at the Entertainment Technology Center, is one of four recipients of the first Randy Pausch Scholarship established by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS).

“The Academy has established a scholarship that will advance the game industry by supporting students interested in taking game design and development to the next level,” said Drew Davidson, program director for ETC Pittsburgh. “Randy excelled at challenging students to innovate as they worked together on interdisciplinary teams to create engaging interactive experiences. The recipients of this scholarship have already shown that they’ve accepted this challenge and it will be interesting to see how they exceed expectations.”

Brown, from Louisville, Ky., plans to use her background in traditional art, comic art, computer science, theater and animation to create games for interactive museum exhibits. “I'm extremely honored to be chosen for this scholarship. It is because of Randy Pausch and the Entertainment Technology Center that I am able to advance in the world of game design at all, and I hope to live up to that honor,” she said.

Other winners are Diana Hughes of the University of Southern California, Garrick Williams, of West Virginia University and Jason Williams of Memphis, Tenn., an online student of the University of Advancing Technology.

“It makes sense that the Academy's first scholarship honors Dr. Randy Pausch who is an inspiration to people who want to be involved in making great games," said Joseph Olin, AIAS president. "We hope these scholarships may help the next Will Wright (creator of The Sims) or Mike Morhaime (president of Blizzard Entertainment) get their start."

Byron Spice