Brian D. Smith of Decatur, Ill., and Li Zhao of Broomfield have received the 1998 Brian Butterfield Fellowship in Telecommunications awarded by Andersen Consulting LLP.
The recipients are first-year graduate students in the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program at the University of Colorado. As this year's awardees, they receive scholarship money and an internship position during the summer at Andersen Consulting's Denver office.
The fellowship was established in 1991 as the Andersen Consulting "National Excellence" Graduate Fellowship in Telecommunications and was renamed this year to honor the late Brian Butterfield, an integral member of Andersen Consulting聮s leadership team.
The fellowship funds are donated by graduates of the University of Colorado who are now part of the Network Solutions practice within Andersen Consulting. Andersen Consulting matches each donation to the fellowship, currently valued at approximately $60,000.
At the awards ceremony on Dec. 3, Lyle Ginsberg, a partner in Andersen Consulting, noted that the fellowship could not have been started without the direct involvement of Butterfield, an alumni of the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. Butterfield was an advocate for the students in the program and recruited many graduates to work for Andersen Consulting.
Attending the ceremony at the University Club on the CU-Boulder campus were Brian's parents, Joseph and Perry Butterfield of Denver, who were presented with a memorial plaque by ITP Director Frank Barnes.
Students eligible for the award must be in the first year of ITP graduate studies on the Boulder campus and enrolled for nine or more credit hours. Candidates complete an application and write an essay on their personal interests in telecommunications and what they expect their future careers to be in the industry. Andersen Consulting then interviews each candidate prior to selecting the winners.
Andersen Consulting, formerly Arthur Andersen and Co., is a global management and technology consulting organization whose mission is to help its clients align their business strategy with their people, processes and technology.