news - 10.21.04

Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Announces Scholarships Honoring John L. McLucas and Burton I. Edelson

(Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 21, 2004) – Dr. Joseph N. Pelton, one of the original founders and vice chairman of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, this week presented the Foundation's two endowed recurring scholarships at the annual Arthur C. Clarke 2004 Lecture and Awards reception. The scholarships are named in honor of two key supporters and founders on the Clarke Foundation.

"Dr. John McLucas, former Secretary of the Air Force, Former FAA Administrator, former President of the AIAA, former Chairman of the International Space University and a host of other accomplishments, agreed to be our Chairman and did so effectively for some twenty years," Pelton said. "Dr. Burton Edelson, former Director of the Comsat Labs, former Associate Administrator of NASA for Space Sciences and Applications, father of the Hubble Telescope, and Professor at both Johns Hopkins and George Washington Universities, was another great resource that also served on our Board for twenty years."

To honor these fallen leaders that have died these past two years," Pelton continued, "we have sought ways to spread knowledge in their names. We have now funded and vested a new endowed scholarship at George Washington University in Dr. Edelson’s name through donations from friends, family, the Clarke Foundation and Intelsat. This fall the first award has gone to Xu Jinghao, an outstanding student who is seeking a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering,"

John McLucas, Pelton said, "was a national treasure and a wonderful human being who led us, raised money for the Foundation and urged us to excellence. To celebrate John McLucas our Foundation joined with the Space Shuttle Children’s Fund (SSCF) as well as with families and friends and we have formed a new John L. McLucas Research Fund for Astronaut Safety that will, starting next year, give an annual grant to the best student studies on space safety conducted within the International Space University, within one of the 90 universities that is a member of the University Space Research Association, and within the Japan-US Science, Technology and Space Applications Program (JUSSAP). I would ask anyone who would like to contribute to the Edelson Scholarship or the McLucas Research Fund to see or e-mail me.”

Dr. Pelton can be reached at joseph.pelton@clarkefoundation.org.

Dr. John McLucas and Dr. Burt Edelson were key players in the creation of the Foundation and its growth over 20 years. Both passed away within the last few years. For additional details on their lives and careers, please see their biographies on the Arlington National Cemetery website at http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jlmclucas.htm and http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/biedelson.htm

The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation scholarships are administered by the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation (http://www.clarkefoundation.org/), based in Washington, D.C. The ACCF was formed in 1983 by Pelton, McLucas, Tedson J. Meyers, and others during the International Telecommunication Union’s World Communications Year.

For additional information, please see http://www.clarkfoundation.org/ or contact ACCF Secretary Scott Chase at 301-879-1613 or scott.chase@clarkefoundation.org.

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