Amber Storment has been selected as the first recipient of the Dr. Lyman B. Harris Scholarship at Arkansas Tech University.
A senior from Russellville, Storment is majoring in rehabilitation science at Arkansas Tech.
“This is the first scholarship I have ever received,” said Storment. “I want to go into racial and social justice work. My ultimate goal is to teach people with disabilities how to advocate for themselves against sexism and racism.”
The scholarship namesake gave four decades of service on the Arkansas Tech University faculty and led the institution’s rehabilitation science program to national recognition.
Harris joined the Arkansas Tech faculty in December 1974 and retired in August 2014. He was professor of rehabilitation science and program director at the time of his retirement.
Under his leadership, the rehabilitation science program became an official major at Tech.
Arkansas Tech was the first university in the state to offer an undergraduate rehabilitation science program. The Arkansas Tech program was the first accredited rehabilitation science program in Arkansas, and it was one of the first eight in the nation to gain accreditation.
Harris died on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, following an illness.
Learn more about private scholarships through the Arkansas Tech Foundation.
Photographed (from left): Carrie Harris Phillips, daughter of Dr. Harris and director of new media at Arkansas Tech; Amber Storment, Dr. Lyman B. Harris Scholarship recipient; and Dr. Penny Willmering, program director and professor of rehabilitation science.
