Vanessajane Bayne, a chemical and environmental engineering student from Northeast Texas Community College, is one of 55 students selected as 2025 Udall Scholars and will receive a $7,000 scholarship. The Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation selects recipients of this highly competitive scholarship on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, leadership potential, record of public service, and academic achievement. Scholars attend a required multi-day Scholar Orientation experience August 5-6 in Tucson, Arizona, which allows scholars to participate in professional development and training opportunities, learn new ways to collaborate, and build community with each other and Udall Alumni. Bayna was one of 12 sophomores selected from among 381 applicants, only 4 of whom came from community colleges.
Bayna, a Texas Heritage Bank Presidential Honors Scholar in Honors Northeast, served as a STEM tutor, Chapter Vice-President for the Phi Theta Kappa chapter, an active member of the STEM club, and the elected student representative on the Great Plains Honors Council. She received a Texas Star Scholarship and a Coca-Cola Bronze Scholarship from Phi Theta Kappa. Her essay on oil and Texas politics won a State of Texas Caldwell award, a Portia Gordon Award from the East Texas Historical Association, and became the basis of the Honors film "Crude Conquest." She has helped judge the Region 8 Science Fair as well as the Vex Robotics Competition.
Bayna plans to use her academic abilities and chemical and environmental engineering education to find practical solutions to meet everyone's needs. A low-cost, easy-to-use solution will help both employers and employees meet their financial needs. Vanessajane approaches the issue from a realistic, practical, and ultimately genuinely impactful approach - using science to solve the problem. She wants to create machines or chemicals that clean the air and environment quickly and cheaply. Her goals impressed the judges and reflected Morris K. Udall's statement that "Politics and issues come and go, but in the end, we'll all be remembered for the way we treated other people."
"Vanessajane Bayna has shown herself to be a thoughtful and innovative leader while at NTCC. The Udall Scholarship and Scholar Orientation will be a great way for her to meet and collaborate with other future leaders in her field. She is in great demand as a tutor and calmly and patiently explains complex problems. In addition to being a robotics judge, she has mentored and helped others in building complex machinery,” noted Dr. Fulgham, “I am excited to see what she will come up with in the years to come and the leadership she will provide in the field."
Dr. Andrew Yox most particularly treasured Bayna’s time at NTCC for her conceptualization. He noted that her lucidity and ideas put her among “some of our best honors students over the years.”
Dr. Melissa Fulgham (Phi Theta Kappa lead advisor), Dr. Drew Murphy (Professor of Chemistry), and Dr. Andrew Yox (Honors Director) wrote recommendation letters for Bayna's winning application. Dr. Fulgham also serves as NTCC's faculty representative for the Udall Foundation and can be reached at mfulgham@ntcc.edu.
