Lichtman, Melvin East Akron Board of Trade Scholarship for Educators
Melvin Lichtman, a community leader and owner of Portage Furniture Company believed strongly in the City of Akron and its people. In tribute to his memory, friends and business leaders created the Mel Lichtman Scholarship Fund after his death in 1989. This fund, managed by the East Akron Board of Trade, awarded scholarships to students from East Akron who were pursuing their dreams of a college education. The East Akron Board of Trade is the first organized board of the Akron Board of Trade Council.
In 2009, upon agreement from all parties to the Mel Lichtman Scholarship Fund, the scholarship was re-established at The University of Akron College of Education. This endowed award will preserve Mel Lichtman' s legacy of service to Akron by funding scholarship opportunities for students from Akron. It is hoped that many of these individuals will remain in Akron to serve the community as leaders and educators.
Scholarship recipients must be undergraduate students enrolled full-time in the University of Akron College of Education, who have completed at least one full year of college-level coursework. Preference will be given to a student or students with a GPA of at least 3.0, and who seek entrepreneurial approaches to education.
The award may be renewed each year, provided that the student is enrolled full time in the College of Education and maintains a minimum 3.0 grade point average. The student recipient(s) will be expected to make every reasonable effort to attend a meeting of the East Akron Board of Trade and also meet a representative of the Lichtman family or their designee at a mutually agreeable time and location.
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