The West Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association is pleased to announce the availability of (high school senior, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate level student) scholarships for an individual interested in the water supply field or the son or daughter of an AWWA member. Areas of study include, but not be limited to, engineering, business, chemistry, and utility accounting. Deadline date for receiving applications is April 1, 2026. For further information and application forms, please contact Jonathan Carpenter, P.E., Chairman, Lewis V. Carpenter Scholarship Fund, 1000 Corporate Landing, Charleston, WV 25311.
The West Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association has established a scholarship to honor Lewis V. Carpenter and recognize his leadership in providing education and training. Mr. Carpenter was the Department Head, Sanitary Engineering, West Virginia University in the 1920’s. He recognized the need for the training of personnel who were managing and operating the public water supply systems in the State of West Virginia. Under his leadership, with the sponsorship of the state health department and the university, he organized the West Virginia Conference on Water Purification of 1925. The annual conference grew and became the West Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association in 1939. The scholarship is to provide assistance to individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in the water works industry and/or who are sons and daughters of the West Virginia Section members.
The Section shall award one scholarship annually to a high school senior pursuing undergraduate admissions or a full-time student in an undergraduate or graduate degree program. While emphasis will be to award the scholarship to a student who is pursuing a degree that is oriented for use in the water supply field, students with other careers objectives will be considered if that student is the son or daughter of a West Virginia Section for a minimum of at least five continuous years prior to the time the application is submitted by the student.
All applicants must be full-time students enrolled at a graduate, senior, junior, sophomore or freshman level attending an accredited college or university during the scholarship year.
In no case shall the award in combination with other scholarships or fellowships exceed the cost of tuition, fees, textbooks, and other registration or matriculation fees.
The scholarship is awarded on an annual basis; however, recipients may reapply for the award in subsequent years.
The awardee of the scholarship shall be declared and the award shall be presented to the recipient at the Section’s annual conference or at such other time and place as the Section board of trustees shall deem proper.
Payment of the award shall not be made until proof of registration is submitted to the Section’s secretary/treasurer.
The Section’s scholarship committee reserves the right to determine eligibility of all applicants and if no applicants are deemed worthy of the award, no award is required to be given in that year.
The application for the scholarship award shall be made on an official scholarship form provided by the Section.
Proof of acceptance of the applicant at an accredited college or university is required before the award is made. Such proof will be required at the time of application or upon the recipient’s admission to a college or university.
Priority for the award of the scholarship for applicants meeting eligibility criteria will be given in the following order:
A. Geographical
1. A West Virginia resident attending a college or university studying for a degree that will be applicable in the water works industry.
2. Any student attending a college or university for any degree providing that the student is the son or daughter of a West Virginia Section member.
B. Class Standing
1. Graduate
2. Senior
3. Junior
4. Sophomore
S. Freshman
Scholarship achievement shall weight heavily in selection of the recipient. All applicants shall have a GPA of at least 2.5 for eligibility.
Appropriate weight will be given to the activities of the applicant in student chapters, professional societies, volunteer work, and summer work.
Financial need, although not necessarily a selection criteria, may be considered particularly in evaluating applicants who are not pursuing a career in the water works industry.
Acceptance of the award does not obligate the awardee to enter the water works field as a career; however, such acceptance does obligate the awardee to diligently pursue their chosen course of study as a full-time student throughout the award year. At the annual Section Conference following the Conference at which the award is announced, each awardee may be asked to present a report on their past year’s scholastic activities and, if they are involved in a research project relating to the water works industry, it may be requested that the individual present a paper at one of the technical
sessions of the Section’s annual conference.