First-year student Phuong-Hieu Nguyen has been named to the prestigious Kemper Scholars Program.

The scholarship-mentorship program prepares students for leadership and service, especially in the fields of administration and business. It has been sponsored by the James S. Kemper Foundation in Chicago since 1948.

Kemper Scholars receive annual scholarships of $3,000 to $10,000 during their sophomore, junior and senior years of college. Kemper Scholars also receive stipends to cover the cost of an internship with a major nonprofit organization in Chicago during the summer following their sophomore year. Scholars are placed in full-time administrative positions where they can learn about topics such as financial management, organizational strategy, fund-raising and non-profit administration.

Each year all Kemper Scholars attend a national conference to discuss their summer projects, meet with former Kemper Scholars, and consider topics in administration, leadership and business. They periodically read and discuss major works on leadership, service, ethics or business and they have frequent contact with Kemper Foundation staff members to discuss their academic and professional goals.

“Kemper Scholars represent academically superior, community spirited, committed and well-rounded undergraduates from a group of 15 excellent liberal arts colleges around the country,” said Ryan LaHurd, president and executive director of the James S. Kemper Foundation. “Throughout the almost six decades of the program, scholars have gone on to make outstanding contributions as leaders in organizations around the country.”

Nguyen is majoring in accounting with double minors in Spanish and math. Her career goal is to be a CPA for a few years and then move on to a career in finance.