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Olivia Burr ’12 Selected as Kemper Scholar

Olivia B. Burr ’12 has been selected from a group of finalists for the Class of 2012 of the prestigious Kemper Scholars Program. She joins current W&L students, Rebecca Taylor (’09), Cale Grove (’10), Eric Hamscher (’11) and Chengpeng Mou (’11) as Kemper Scholars.

Each year, the James S. Kemper Foundation selects one first-year student from each of its participating schools to serve as Kemper Scholars. Washington and Lee University is one of only 15 schools invited to participate in the program. The scholarship-mentorship program has been sponsored by the James S. Kemper Foundation of Chicago, Ill., since 1948.

At W&L, Burr holds a Johnson Scholarship providing her with full tuition and room and board. From Chevy Chase, Md., Burr is also a member of FYOC (First Year Orientation Committee), and both member and officer of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Burr is a member of Students for Life and was on the entertainment committee for Fancy Dress 2009.

“I am excited about every single aspect of the Kemper Scholar Program,” Burr said. “As a habitual goal-setter, I like the way that the Kemper Program is designed to hold scholars accountable to their highest aspirations. Entrepreneurship is my ultimate goal, so the practical business experience that the Kemper Scholarship offers through two summers of internship is essential for the chance to explore different industries and to learn from professionals before I even graduate from college.

“The Williams School seeks to provide interested students the opportunity for an in-depth exploration of business, economics, and politics within the context of a top-notch liberal arts education,” said Professor Rob Straughan, associate dean of the Williams School and the W&L coordinator of the Kemper Scholar program.

“We share the view of the James S. Kemper Foundation that a liberal arts education provides the ideal foundation on which to build an understanding of the role of not-for-profit and for-profit leadership and management. Olivia Burr is certainly a worthy recipient and will carry on that tradition,” said Straughan.

Kemper Scholars receive financial aid during their sophomore through senior years and participate in an annual fall conference in Chicago. They are also employed as a not-for-profit intern in Chicago following their sophomore year, and a for-profit internship in a mutually agreed upon location following the junior year.