Eligibility

All full or part-time students who will be enrolled in one of the following programs at the start of the Fall 2024 semester are eligible to apply:

  • A graduate or undergraduate degree program that is fully ABET-accredited under the Industrial Hygiene and similarly named programs; Environmental, Health, and Safety and similarly named programs, or Occupational Safety and Health and similarly named programs criteria.
  • A graduate public health degree program fully accredited by CEPH, with a program concentration in Environment Health with a focus in Industrial Hygiene or Occupational Health.
  • An Industrial Hygiene or similarly named program offered at a NIOSH-ERC or a NIOSH Training Project Grant in Industrial Hygiene.
  • Industrial hygiene or similarly named program at one of the following Canadian institutions: McGill University, University of British Columbia, Universite de Montreal, Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres, or University of Toronto.
  • The M.S. in Occupational and Environmental Hygiene program at New York University (NYU). Only NYU students are eligible for the Dr. Morton Lippmann Scholarship.

Students not enrolled in any of the listed programs above are still eligible to apply. To qualify, a school administrator must complete a separate application​ justifying why their program/students should be considered for an AIHF scholarship. The deadline to submit a school application form is January 10, 2025.

Application Deadline

The deadline to submit all AIHF application materials is February 19, 2024. All materials must be completed and answered in full. Students who submit a completed scholarship application will be considered for all scholarships for which they are eligible.

Supplemental Scholarship Application Materials

When completing the AIHF scholarship application, applicants will be asked to upload or send the following materials listed below. Please pay close attention to the following 6 key parts of your application submittal. All requested materials should be submitted as PDFs. If you need assistance in converting your documents to a PDF file, please contact Thursa Pecoraro.

  1. Academic Transcripts
    • Submit transcripts from all undergraduate programs and if applicable, transcripts from graduate and doctoral programs. If transcripts are unavailable, applicants may submit an unofficial grade report signed by the Department Chair.
  2. Personal/Professional Statement (no more than 2 pages)
    • Be sure to address the following points in your statement:
      • Why do you want to be in the Industrial Hygiene profession?
      • What is your specific interest in the IH field?
      • Describe any industrial hygiene professional activities in which you are/have been involved.
      • What are your long-term goals in the profession? (For example, become a CIH, research, etc.)
      • Why are you the best candidate to receive a scholarship?
      Optional:

      If you're interested in being eligible for the President's Leadership Award, make sure to address the following in your personal/professional statement:
      "
      Highlight how you demonstrate scientific, literary, and research acumen in industrial hygiene, environmental and occupational health disciplines."

      If you're interested in being eligible for the Debbie Dietrich Women in Industrial Hygiene Scholarship, make sure to address in your personal/professional statement: "How you've demonstrated leadership qualities that directly impacted or elevated women in their industry of work, community, school, or area of study."
  3. Capstone Project/Thesis Description/Internship
    • For all applicants: Provide a succinct but complete a one-paragraph description summarizing your research thesis/project, capstone project or internship project. Include:
      • your hypothesis (i.e., what is the question you want to answer),
      • its relevance to industrial hygiene and the reason for its selection,
      • how you are or would go about conducting the project,
      • if available, summarize your findings or conclusions.
    • If you have NOT yet selected your research thesis/project/capstone project/internship project, or if your program does not require one, select a topic relevant to industrial hygiene that you would be interested in investigating or that you think requires investigating and follow the guidelines in the previous paragraph (points 1 through 3 only).
  4. Current resume or CV (no more than 2 pages)
    • In addition to including a summary of all work experiences and internships, please make sure to include ALL of the following:
      • Honors, awards, and other scholarships received
      • Volunteer and extracurricular activities at school and in the community
      • Volunteer and participate in Industrial Hygiene, Public Health, and Safety organizations such as local student sections
  5. A digital, high-resolution (minimum 300 dpi) professional photo
    • Your photo will not be supplied to the AIHF Scholarship Advisory Committee, which is responsible for selecting scholarship recipients. If selected for an AIHF scholarship, it will be used at the discretion of AIHF/AIHA in the publication, marketing, and solicitation of donations and materials.
  6. Two professional letters of recommendation are REQUIRED.
    • One must come from a professor from your academic program. The other should come from a CIH or IH professional (your professor can meet this criterion). A second professional reference is still needed if the same individual can meet these two categories.
    • Make sure you forward the following link (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r...) to your references so they are aware of expectations. Reference letters can be emailed directly by your reference to [email protected] or can be uploaded to the following site. Reference letters submitted by the student are not accepted.
    • Reference letters must be no longer than two pages and be on letterhead. Be sure to emphasize to your references how important their reference letter is to decision-making.
    • Please be sure to ask that your references address the following points:
      • How long have you known the applicant, and what sets them apart from their peers?
      • What are the applicant's strongest characteristics or strengths?
      • How would you assess the applicant's passion and enthusiasm for the field of industrial hygiene?
      • How would you assess the applicant's critical industrial hygiene skills if applicable?
      • Please provide any additional insight you believe will assist the scholarship committee in its decision regarding the applicant (interpersonal skills, demonstrated leadership skills, academic performance, work ethics, etc.).

Instructions for Submitting an Application

  • If you do not complete the application process in one sitting, the system will not save the information, and you will have to restart the process from the beginning.
  • You will get a confirmation email if the submission has been completed successfully.
  • If you have any issues with your application, please contact Thursa Pecoraro.

Review and Selection Process

The AIHF Scholarship Advisory Committee will begin its independent review process in February 2024. All applicants will be notified by mid-April of the committee's decision. All scholarship funds will be distributed in the fall of 2024, and all recipients will be recognized publicly at the AIHA Connect, May 20 – 22, in Columbus, Ohio.

NEW: NEEDS BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

AIHF is happy to announce that we will once again award Need Based Scholarship(s) for the 2023-24 scholarship cycle. The program will award up to five Needs Based Scholarship worth $1,000 each.

A "Needs Based" scholarship applicant is one who, because of their financial or socioeconomic status, is less able than other applicants to participate in academic and professional activities that would bolster their merit-based scholarship application.

To be eligible for an AIHF Needs Based Scholarship, applicant MUST FIRST complete an 2023-24 AIHF Scholarship Application (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r...) and currently meet the eligibility requirements for a scholarship via AIHF. Once an applicant completes the 2023-24 AIHF Scholarship Application, there will be sent a link to apply for a needs based scholarship.

The application deadline to complete the AIHF Needs Based Scholarship is Wednesday, February 21, 2024.

Questions

Please contact Thursa Pecoraro.