Illinois State University is proud to announce that 14 students were selected as Robert G. Bone Scholars for the 2024-2025 academic year.

The Bone Scholarship, the highest university-wide honor given to undergraduate students, includes a monetary award from the Bone Scholarship endowment. Recipients of the award will be featured in a display at the Bone Student Center and will be introduced during a reception in the fall semester of 2025. 

The scholarship is named in honor of the late Robert G. Bone, president of Illinois State University from 1956-1967. Bone Scholars are selected through a rigorous campus-wide competition based on their scholarly achievements and their engagement and leadership in activities in the University community and beyond. Invited finalists submit a comprehensive portfolio including several essays and statements, an academic product, and letters of recommendation. The mean grade point average of this year’s Bone Scholars is 3.93 on a 4.0 scale.

The selection committee consisted of Antonio Causarano, Andrea Crimmins, Yousra Javed, Michele Shropshire, Charles Su and Pui Ying Tong of the Illinois State faculty; current Bone Scholar Emily Brownlie; Foundation Association representative Dan Kelley; and Alumni Association representative Matthew Rillie.

Honorees, their hometown, and their major(s) include:

Kruz Barrera, of Blue Island, Ill. – Psychology                                                              

Anabella M. Chlada, of Darien, Ill. – Education, Specialist in Learning and Behavior       

Isabella Ebersold, of Naperville, Ill. – Political Science                                                

Lucas Finn, of Aurora, Ill. – Finance                                                                 

Katie Hindman, of Lake Zurich, Ill. – Psychology                                                              

Elyssa Kollmann, of Martinton, Ill, – Nursing                                                               

Leo Krueger, of Vandalia, Ill. – International Business                                             

Samuel Lehman, of Moweaqua, Ill. – Engineering Technology                                            

Carlos Leon Castro, of Culiacán, México – Music, Music Performance                 

Shannon Mahoney, of South Elgin, Ill. – History/Social Science Education                            

Elizabeth Schaiberger, of Washington, Ill. – Political Science                                               

Nicole Schmidt, of Highland, Ill. – Music Therapy, Music Performance                                

Ashley Strehlow, of Metamora, Ill. – General Computer Science, Computational Mathematics    

Marlene Urbina, of Melrose Park, Ill. – Technology and Engineering Education