Carnegie Mellon University
April 24, 2012

Samantha Frank Wins Gladys Schmitt Memorial Scholarship

Samantha Frank Wins Gladys Schmitt Memorial Scholarship

Samantha Frank is the 2012 recipient of the Gladys Schmitt Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is given annually to a talented creative writing student who contributes to the program both in and out of the classroom. The department created the scholarship in memory of Gladys Schmitt, founder of Carnegie Mellon's creative writing program, who made a great impact on the lives of her students and the Pittsburgh writing community.

Michael Szczerban, an alumnus of the English department's creative writing program, presented the award to Samantha at a ceremony held on March 19.

"I am truly honored to receive the Gladys Schmitt Memorial Scholarship," Samantha said. "But even more importantly, I am thankful for the support and guidance that my professors and classmates have provided me with over the past three and a half years. Without the creative writing community's constant encouragement and dedication, I would not have been able to develop into the writer and person that I am today—and for that, I cannot thank them enough."

Samantha will graduate next month with a double-major in professional writing and creative writing and a minor in business administration. She will also be celebrating the publication of her poem "Red Sky," which will appear in the national literary anthology plain china. Her post-graduation plans are not definite at the moment, but she knows she would like to work as part of a creative team in television, journalism, or publishing.