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WILKES-BARRE — Students can expect new opportunities beyond the classroom at Wilkes University thanks to $1.65 million bequeathed from the estate of Wilkes-Barre native George Bierly.
The money will create “The Bierly Fellowship” that will “help fund a semester-long experience for a student and may include internships, study-away or study-abroad trips, or undergraduate research,” according to a media release.
Fellowships are expected to range from $500 to $5,000 and cover transportation, housing or expenses related to the experience provided to the student. The work may be credit or non-credit related.
Undergraduates in any major will be eligible as sophomores, juniors or seniors, with preference for the latter two.
Bierly was a part of Wilkes before it existed. In 1940, he graduated from Bucknell University Junior College, which ultimately became Wilkes. He went on to earn a bachelor’s in engineering from MIT, serve in the U.S. Army in Europe, and work first as instructor and later as administrator at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
“We are grateful to George Bierly for his gift,” Wilkes President Patrick Leahy said in the release. “It is the kind of philanthropic support that will have a long-term impact, providing extraordinary opportunities for Wilkes students for years to come.”