Mauricio Pimentel receives scholarships to attend Washington University in St. Louis

2013 Aug 16

Mauricio Pimentel, son of Cedrick Manalang Pimentel of Fenton, Mo., and Ellen Angelbeck Pimnetel of St. Louis, Mo. (63116), has been named both a McLeod Scholar and an Annika Rodriguez Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis. Pimentel, a 2013 graduate of Metro Academic and Classical High School in St. Louis, Mo., will be a freshman at the university when the fall semester begins Aug. 27.

McLeod Scholars are selected on the basis of academic achievement, commitment to serving others, leadership potential and character. The Annika Rodriguez Scholarships are awarded to incoming first-year students of exceptional academic merit who show commitment to community service and a demonstrated ability to bring diverse people together.

In high school, Pimentel was a member of the varsity chess and varsity ice hockey teams. Pimentel also coached a middle school chess team.

McLeod Scholarship

Washington University established the scholarship in 2009 to honor James E. McLeod, then vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. McLeod died Sept. 6, 2011, after a two-year battle with cancer. During his 37 years at the university, McLeod made an indelible mark through his invaluable contributions, inspiration, devotion and guidance to the university community.

McLeod’s effect on the Washington University community was profound. As dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, WUSTL’s largest undergraduate school, and vice chancellor for students, he and his colleagues built a warm, supportive and challenging student culture that is unique in the nation. His goal to have every student “known by name and by story” set the tone.

His wisdom, steadiness under pressure, generous spirit and strong values guided and influenced many generations of students, faculty and staff at the university.

Recognized as one of the university’s most effective leaders, McLeod spearheaded many successful undergraduate efforts, including developing a residential college approach to dormitory living; strengthening the undergraduate advising system; constructing new small-group housing; advising the new undergraduate curriculum effort in Arts & Sciences; enriching the mix of seminar experiences for freshmen; establishing and building the John B. Ervin Scholars Program; and helping initiate and shape the expanded study-abroad program.

A native of Dothan, Ala., McLeod joined the WUSTL faculty in 1974 as an assistant professor of German. His other positions at the university included serving as assistant dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; assistant to then-Chancellor William H. Danforth; and director of African and African-American Studies in Arts & Sciences.

Annika Rodriguez Scholarship

The Annika Rodriguez Scholarship is renewable for all four years of undergraduate academic study, dependent upon the student's satisfactory academic progress.

Scholars participate in the Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program throughout their four years at Washington University by attending biweekly meetings and seminars and doing community service projects.

The scholarship is named in honor of an exceptional young alumna of Washington University, Annika Rodriguez, who was killed during a flash flood while working for the Peace Corps in Honduras.

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University is counted among the world's leaders in teaching and research, and it draws students and faculty to St. Louis from all 50 states and more than 100 nations. The total student body is nearly 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

The approximately 3,400 faculty teach in seven schools: Arts & Sciences, Brown School, Olin Business School, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, School of Engineering & Applied Science, School of Law and School of Medicine. Twenty-three Nobel laureates have been associated with Washington University, with nine doing the major portion of their pioneering research there.

The university offers more than 90 programs and almost 1,500 courses leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in a broad spectrum of traditional and interdisciplinary fields, with additional opportunities for minor concentrations and individualized programs.