[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

More than 90 University of Wisconsin undergraduate students were recognized for their scholarship awards at a ceremony Monday night in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

Students were introduced by UW Provost Patrick Farrell and handed their awards by UW Chancellor John Wiley at the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Awards Ceremony.

Julie Stubbs, UW student services coordinator for the office of undergraduate awards, said the ceremony was a great way to cap off a year of hard work by all the students who applied and worked for their scholarships.

“It’s so wonderful that the university supports students and recognizes their work like this,” Stubbs said.

More than 80 students were awarded the Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship that gives students $4,000 for completing a research project and their faculty advisor $1,000 to work in collaboration on the projects. The grants are funded by the Hilldale Foundation and the Wisconsin state Legislature.

Four students received the Herfurth-Kubly Awards to reward initiative, self sufficiency and effective speaking.

UW senior Nicholas Rego, one of the Herfurth-Kubly Award winners, who also won a Hilldale Award, said the ceremony was a great way to cap an intense selection process.

“I always feel a little bit guilty because every time I turned in an application in to Julie’s office, it’s always a ream of paper that, you know, at least a couple of trees have died for my scholarship applications so far,” Rego said.

He said students had to be nominated for the Herfurt-Kubly Award by a professor and then fill out an application. There was then a dinner for the candidates during which each student had to give a five-minute, prepared speech on a selected topic, as well as a two-minute impromptu speech.

“It was a very intense process,” Rego said.

Twenty-two students also received $1,000 University Book Store Awards for Academic Excellence.

Six students were recognized for obtaining nationally competitive scholarships.

Associated Students of Madison Shared Governance Committee Chair Jeff Wright was one of the students awarded a national scholarship, receiving the $30,000 Harry S. Truman Scholarship awarded to students interested in a career in public service.

“It feels great,” Wright said. “It’s a tremendous honor, and I’m proud to represent UW.”

He added the money was nice, too, saying, “I’m going to put it toward law school.”

Fewer than 70 students nationwide were granted the Truman Scholarship this year. Other nationwide scholarships awarded were the Morris K. Udall Scholarship that is granted to up to 80 students annually and the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for science and mathematics that is awarded to up to 300 students each year.

Stubbs said all the students had to apply through the Undergraduate Academic Awards Office that works with the students to “put together the best application they can.”

“They do all the hard work,” Stubbs said. “I’m just there as an advisor.”