George H. Nofer Scholarship for Law and Public Policy
2013 George H. Nofer Scholarship Award Announced
The committee for the George H. Nofer Scholarship for Law and Public Policy is pleased to announce that Kate E. Georgen is this year’s recipient of the scholarship award. We offer hearty congratulations to Kate as she embarks on her final year at Cornell Law School this fall.
About This Scholarship
The George H. Nofer Scholarship for Law and Public Policy is for full-time graduate students with a pre-lingual bilateral hearing loss in the moderately-severe to profound range, use listening and spoken language as their primary method of communication, and who are attending an accredited mainstream law school or a masters or doctoral program in public policy or public administration.
This scholarship was established to recognize George H. Nofer’s service and generosity to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) and to the fields of law and deafness research and education. Mr. Nofer, a retired partner of the law firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP in Philadelphia, is a former member of the AG Bell board of directors. He is a Trustee Emeritus of the Oberkotter Foundation and served for more than 15 years as its Executive Director.
Up to three awards of $5,000 each may be awarded per year. Previous recipients of the George H. Nofer Scholarship may re-apply for a scholarship, provided that a minimum of nine credit hours was completed in the previous year of study.
This program is now closed; the application deadline was May 1, 2013.
2013 Program Eligibility Criteria
In order to apply for this program, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
- Applicant uses spoken language as the primary mode of communication.
- Applicant has a pre-lingual hearing loss (diagnosed prior to the fourth birthday).
- Applicant’s hearing loss is bilateral and in the moderate to profound range. Applicants must have an unaided Pure-Tone Average (PTA) of 60dB or greater in the better hearing ear in the speech frequencies of 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz. Individuals with cochlear implants meet this eligibility requirement. Unilateral (one-sided) hearing loss does not qualify.
Formula for calculating the PTA: On the unaided audiogram, look at the results for the better-hearing ear at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz and add those three numbers together, then divide that total by three. The result is the Pure Tone Average. To be eligible for this award, the applicant's PTA must be 60 or greater.
- Applicant has been accepted at or is enrolled in an accredited law school or masters/doctoral program in public policy or public administration as a full-time graduate student for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Administrative Processes and Notification
In the weeks after the application deadline, all applications are screened for eligibility. Eligible applications are then forwarded to the award selection committee for review. Ineligible applications will be discarded.
Once the screening process is complete, applicants will be notified via email of the status of their applications – either the application is not eligible, or the application is being reviewed by the award selection committee. Eligible applicants will also receive information about when they can expect to receive information about the award decisions.
Applicants not selected to receive an award will be notified by email only. Applicants selected to receive an award will be notified by email and will receive the award check in August.
Do You Have Questions?
If you have a question or would like clarification, please send us an email. Responses may take up to three business days so please plan accordingly when submitting your email.