Brown Scholar Testimonials
Lindsay Stapleton
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Lindsay Stapleton
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Lindsay Stapleton
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The Craig & Galen Brown Foundation (Brown Foundation) awards undergraduate scholarships to high achieving, well-rounded students who achieve National Merit Semi-Finalist or Finalist status, have demonstrated leadership and community service, and attend Texas A&M University (A&M). Students are known as Brown Scholars and are recognized on the A&M campus as exceptional students and leaders. 95% of Brown Scholars major in engineering and the remainder major in other STEM disciplines.
The Brown Foundation awards Engineering Medicine (EnMed) scholarships to a subset of students who are offered Brown Foundation undergraduate scholarships. Each year, the Brown Foundation proffers its high school candidates for admission using the E2EnMed EAP pathway and can achieve 15+ Brown Scholars who attend Texas A&M, major in engineering disciplines, meet Brown Foundation and EnMed requirements and matriculate to the prestigious EnMed Program.
Chemical Engineering
From my interview for the Brown Foundation to present day, I can confidently say that the Brown Foundation has changed my life. Sue Smith and Craig Brown have given me not only financial support through college, but also a multitude of opportunities and an even greater network of individuals. I am so thankful to the Brown Foundation for everything they have given me!
Neuroscience
The Brown Foundation has been one of the greatest blessings during my time at Texas A&M. Not only have I been afforded academic and professional opportunities that I never could have anticipated, but the Brown Foundation has made a large university feel like a family.
Aerospace Engineering
The Brown Foundation has helped immensely in securing my financial situation so that all of my focus can be on academics and extracurriculars. With their support, I have been able to participate in the fast-track Quantitative Finance Master’s program while receiving my engineering degree and remaining involved with campus leadership. I have met countless motivated and amazing students through the scholarship program and made professional connections which I am sure will last a lifetime!
Biomedical Science
Receiving a Brown Foundation Scholarship has changed my life and the commitment that Mr. Brown and Ms. Smith have shown me has a huge factor in my decision to attend A&M. They attended my concerts as a Singing Cadet, they hosted a lunch for Brown Scholar HM SURI summer interns, and they have given me freedom to pursue my academic interests. I have also benefitted from Brown Scholars who have helped and supported me and were instrumental to my academic success.
Biomedical Engineering
The generosity of the Craig & Galen Brown Foundation has brought me into an extraordinary community of hardworking, passionate, and service-oriented people. The integrity of my Brown Scholar peers continually inspires me to be the best version of myself.
Business
I have so much gratitude for the Brown Foundation and the amazing opportunities I have been provided. Fellow Brown Scholars as well as each individual I have interacted with at the Brown Foundation have been incredibly kind and supportive. Being surrounded by individuals who embody the Texas A&M core values has pushed me in personal, academic, and professional growth.
Mechanical Engineering
The Brown Foundation has been an integral part of my life. Advice from Brown Scholar upperclassmen led me to begin research the first semester of my freshman year. Medical robotics research has enhanced my mechanical engineering skills resulting in a career change to pursue a PhD. Mrs. Smith facilitated my ability to study medical robots at Houston Methodist’s MITIE Lab and she and Mrs. Matthews are always helpful. Support from the Brown Foundation has made my experience at A&M the best possible.
Biomedical Engineering
The warm support of Mr. Craig Brown and Ms. Sue Smith has emboldened me to reach and work towards goals I never thought possible, such as being a physicianeer. I am grateful for the life-changing opportunities and character-building relationships I have made thanks to the Brown Foundation.
Biomedical Engineering
I decided to become a Brown Scholar because I could sense how much Mr. Brown and Ms. Smith are invested in the success and personal well being of their scholars, and I knew it would create many opportunities for me at A&M. Through the Brown Foundation Scholarship, I have met my best friends and roommates, I have grown as a leader and a person, and I have had many doors opened for me to reach my research and professional goals. I am so glad that I chose to come to Texas A&M.
In my 35 years as a professional in industry, academia, and the national government, my experience with the Brown Foundation stands out among all education-supportive philanthropic institutions that I have encountered. The commitment of its principals, Craig Brown and Sue Smith, to advancing excellence in education and productive careers is exceptional. They are creative thinkers and impassioned doers. An example is their proposal to create and fund the forward-looking Early To EnMed program, known as E2EnMed. This identifies students among National Merit Scholars who exhibit great character, an outstanding achievement trajectory and want to pursue engineering and medicine. The Brown Foundation provides qualified students with a full TAMU undergraduate scholarship and subsequent graduate scholarship for our unique EnMed program in the Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine. Such students are supported through eight years of schooling, earning a BS (4 years), and simultaneous MD and Engineering Masters degrees (4years). Perhaps most importantly, these stellar students promise to emerge as even more stellar medical innovators, taught to invent solutions to medical challenges. The overarching goal is to trailblaze the next generation of medical transformers and the Brown Foundation, through its incredible generosity and ardent devotion to a better future, is helping to lead the way.
Emmanuel is running a study at A&M mixing simulated Martian soil with black soldier fly larvae frass (poop), as a nutrient substitute for soil, to enable vegetable growth on Mars. Emmanuel’s study was profiled in NPR and the New York Times.
Noah Taylor, a junior biomedical engineering major, took 20 credit hours for the 2023 Spring semester.
He is a member of the Corps of Cadets, a member of Rudder’s Rangers (an advanced training program) and a member of the Parsons Mounted Cavalry. He is the Platoon Sergeant of Company K-1 and the coordinator of Academics, Career Readiness and Recruiting.
While taking 20 credit hours, Noah also took the MCAT a year early.
Noah has a cumulative 4.0 GPA and scored 97% on the MCAT.
He was admitted to EnMed using the E2 EnMed EAP pathway.
Anish Easwaran, a junior biomedical engineering major, is a member of Engineering, Inc., the NSF I-CorpsSite program, Engineering Honors Executive Committee, Vice-President and Co-Founder of Aggies to Medicine, and TAMECT and a member of the Aggie Entrepreneurial Committee (his entrepreneurial efforts include StimuCalm, Aegis Armor, PillSafe and an app for pre-med students).
He is a Brown Foundation Freshmen Leadership Officer and was one of the three group leaders of the inaugural MSC Brown Smith UK Honors Leadership trip.
Anish and his teammates placed in the top 3 for the Rice Health Policy Hackathon, 3rd and 4th at Aggies Invent and Top 6 at Aggie Pitch.
He was a Gathright Dean’s Excellence Award winner for the College of Engineering and has a cumulative 3.9 GPA.
Anish was admitted to EnMed using the E2EnMed EAP pathway.
Her presentation received first place for Audience Choice in the graduate student category and second place overall for Audience Choice among graduate, postdoc and resident presentations.
Fouzul was admitted to EnMed using the E2EnMed pathway.
Sarah Voon, a junior biomedical engineering major, received her Aggie ring and completed her undergraduate thesis as a sophomore.
She is a Brown Foundation Freshmen Leadership Organization officer and was one of the three group leaders of the inaugural MSC Brown-Smith UK Honors Leadership trip.
Sarah was inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta, the National Biomedical Engineering Honor Society. She is a member of TAMECT
Sarah has a cumulative 4.0 GPA and she took the MCAT a year early and scored 98%.
She was admitted to EnMed using the E2EnMed EAP pathway.
Dawson Benner, a junior interdisciplinary major, spent the summer at IIT Gandhinagar, India researching the use of red carbon dots (produced from mango leaves) to: reduce cancer cells counts by 50% without damaging benign cells; close wounds between cells and increase cell counts; and differentiate neurons and cause connections between them, an avenue for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Dawson was first co-author of “Red Emitting Carbon Dots: Surface Modifications and Bioapplications” published in Nanoscale Advances
Dawson has a cumulative 4.0 GPA and began fast-track coursework for the Master’s in Quantitative Finance at Mays Business School as a sophomore.
Cathryn Gunawan, a sophomore biomedical engineering major, was one of two Houston Methodist Summer Undergraduate Research Internship interns who received the 2023 Outstanding Intern Award.
Additionally, Cathryn, along with her fellow Brown Scholars Megan Guy and Anna Claire Holleman, were recipients of the One Step Above Award and the Eloquent Presenter Award.
Cathryn has a cumulative 4.0 GPA.
She was admitted to EnMed using the E2EnMed EAP pathway
Michael Frost, a sophomore aerospace engineering major, opened a makerspace, Starforge Foundry, open to students interested in engineering projects.
L-R: Brown Scholar Meghan Shimer, Craig, Michael Frost, Sue, Interim Dean Johnny Hurtado.
Starforge Foundry tools include: lathe, laser cutter, 3D printers, bandsaw, hand tools, belt/disc sander, sheetmetal brake, flaring tools, spot welder, bench grinder, soldering irons, and a miniature CNC mill.
Michael has a cumulative 4.0 GPA.
Fouzul Kansul, a junior biomedical engineering major, was a podium presenter in the graduate student category at the 2023 Houston Methodist Summer Science Symposium. Her topic was “Sex Based Differences in Calcification Patterns of Chronic Lower Extremity Peripheral Arterial Disease”.
Her presentation received first place for Audience Choice in the graduate student category and second place overall for Audience Choice among graduate, postdoc and resident presentations.
Fouzul was admitted to EnMed using the E2EnMed pathway.
Abhinaya Murugndandham, a junior biomedical engineering major, was first co-author on computational biology research published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.
She was first author for an abstract with Houston Methodist research in cardiac imaging published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Abhinaya presented her abstract as a poster for the 72nd Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.
She serves as Treasurer for TAMECT (Texas A&M Emergency Care Team)
Abhinaya has a cumulative 4.0 GPA and scored 100% on the MCAT.
She was admitted to EnMed using the E2EnMed EAP pathway.