Clayton Program

Donald W. Clayton Ph.D. Assistantship

This award was established through an endowment by 1959 LSU graduates, Donald W. and Gloria Pichon Clayton, to support the College of Engineering in its quest for excellence. Donald W. Clayton is an alumnus of the Craft and Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering, and a 1993 inductee into the College of Engineering Hall of Distinction. The stipends may vary from $10,000 to $20,000 a year, depending on the student's year in the degree program and the funds available. The recipient should be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident enrolled or coming into an engineering Ph.D. program and desirous of entering the teaching profession.

To qualify for the Assistantship, the student must also receive, in addition, a minimum of $15,000 per year in graduate assistantship from his or her engineering department or other source such as reasearch grants/contracts, other assistantships, etc. The total award will thus be $25,000, $30,000 and $35,000 per year per student for the three-year program of study. A letter of support should be included in the application from the student's department/major professor obligating the $15,000 per year support funds.

 

 aPPLICATION PACKET FOR THE 2012 CLAYTON UNDERGRADUATE  EXCELLENCE AWARD

   DEADLINE - FEBRUARY 3, 2012


  APPLICATION PACKET FOR THE CLAYTON PH.D. ASSISTANTSHIP SUPPLEMENT AWARD

   deADLINE - FEBRUARY 14, 2012

 

Award Recipient

  William "Barrett" Ainsworth, a Louisiana native from Lafayette graduated from LSU in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. After transferring to the Department of Chemical Engineering, Barrett began work as a graduate student under Dr. Michael Benton and Dr. Martin Hjortso, researching the use of the yeast cell cycle to model and treat cancer. As an active member of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association, Barrett established and captained the 2011 championship-bound chemical engineering intramural soccer team. He aspires to enter a post-doctoral program upon graduating with his Ph.D. and plans to pursue a career in academia where he can continue to impact the community through teaching and research.

the donald w. Clayton engineering excellence award

These awards are granted each year to outstanding undergraduate students who exhibit extraordinary character, scholastic achievement, and evident leadership in the College of Engineering. The award entails a stipend of $5,000 and a commemorative plaque. The awards were founded in 2004 through a generous donation by Donald W. Clayton (B.S. PETE, 1959).

Award Recipients

  Mark Dunn was born and raised in Baton Rouge and attended Catholic High School. He is currently majoring in Civil Engineering and expects to graduate in December 2011. Mark is a member of the LSU student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and captained the LSU ASCE Steel Bridge Team in 2009-10. The team placed 14th out of 46 teams at the national competition. Mark would like to pursue a career in structural engineering and attain his Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from LSU while working in the consulting field. 

  Christopher Foreman was born in Fort Walton Beach, FL. However, he spent most of his life in Rayne, LA and attended Notre Dame High School in Crowley, LA. Christopher is currently a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering. During his junior year, he was invited to and joined the Mechanical Engineering Accelerated Master's program, which allows him the opportunity to graduate with a Master's degree in five years instead of six years. Christopher will receive his Bachelor's degree in May 2011. After graduation he will be enrolled as a full-time graduate student in Mechanical Engineering. Christopher's current research is focused on the active control of film-cooling on gas turbine blades and how it is affected by unsteady flow fields. The hope is that this research will contribute to the creation of more energy efficient turbines in the future. After graduation, Christopher would like to work as a design engineer in the field of aerospace.