The Hampton Roads Chapter of the Vertical Flight Society annually awards two scholarships to two deserving students from the chapter’s membership area that includes all of Virginia except the greater Washington D.C. area: the Christopher Gavora Scholarship and the Robert Powell Scholarship.
The Robert Powell Scholarship:
The Robert Powell Scholarship was established to honor the long time treasurer of the Hampton Roads Chapter whose stewardship of the chapter's financial assets has enabled the chapter's STEM outreach program, including its scholarship fund. The 2020 Robert Powell scholarship has been awarded to Samuel Doty, the son of Hilary and Michael Doty. Sam attends Summit Christian Academy and is an exemplary scholar, leader, and athlete. He is a Gold Medal of Achievement recipient from the Royal Rangers, the equivalent of a Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout award. Sam also earned a near perfect SAT score to complement his impressive college level course load. Sam plans to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.
The Christopher Gavora Scholarship:
The Christopher Gavora Scholarship was established to honor the son of COL William Gavora, former Commander of the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. Chris was killed in a tragic high school baseball practice accident shortly after his family relocated from Hampton Roads to Texas. The 2020 Christopher Gavora Scholarship has been awarded to Keith Butler, a student at Grafton High School. Keith, the son of Katherine and Gary Butler, is a proven academic with collegiate level research experience at NASA Langley Research Center investigating human rated vehicle designs for NASA’s Mars mission. Keith is also a proven scholar, having taken an impressive number of AP courses and dual enrollment courses at TNCC, and earned a phenomenal ACT score. Keith plans to pursue a degree in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.
