Robert G. Bone Scholars named for 2025-2026

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