Mary Sevart Finalist for Marshall Scholarship

Five current seniors and a recent graduate at the University of Kansas will compete for prestigious fellowships for study in the United Kingdom and Ireland this year with the support of KU's Office of Fellowships. From Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, Mary Sevart is being endorsed for the Marshall Scholarship which provides funding for graduate study at any university in the United Kingdom.

Regional panels review applications for both the Rhodes and Marshall scholarship programs. The Mitchell Scholarship has a first-round video interview before finalist interviews in November. Finalists for the Rhodes and Marshall are invited to participate in interviews in November. Only U.S. citizens can apply for the Marshall and Mitchell scholarships, while the Rhodes Scholarship has 20 constituencies around the world, including the United States and Canada, and a new Global Rhodes Scholarship program.

The Office of Fellowships, a unit of Academic Success, coordinates KU's endorsement process and supports candidates through the application process. Students interested in applying for these awards are encouraged to contact the office by email at fellowships@ku.edu. Depending on other eligibility requirements, students may apply for these awards as graduating seniors or recent graduates.

Mary Sevart, from Wichita, is the daughter of Eric and Karen Sevart and a graduate of Maize High School. Sevart is majoring in chemical engineering with plans to pursue a doctorate in the same field. Currently, Sevart serves as the testing lab manager for the KU Biodiesel Initiative and conducts undergraduate research under Susan Williams, Charles E. & Mary Jane Spahr Professor, with a focus on the valorization of hemp biomass to create a fuel source. She also is the co-president of KU's Society of Women Engineers chapter and a KU School of Engineering ambassador. In spring of 2022, Sevart was named a Barry M. Goldwater scholar as well as Outstanding Junior of the Year in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering. She was also selected as a university representative for the Kansas Undergraduate Research Days at the Capitol event. In fall 2021, Sevart won first place in the Society of Women Engineers national poster competition, and in spring 2021, she received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship and an Undergraduate Research Award. Sevart worked at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita in the summer of 2021 as a materials and processes engineering intern, and most recently during summer 2022, she interned at the National Weather Service in State College, Pennsylvania, as a hydrology intern, with a focus on improving the accuracy of river forecasting models.