Gracie Hornsby Admitted into 2020 Cohort of Knight-Hennessy Scholars
Gracie Hornsby, a senior from Franklin, N.C., has been admitted into the 2020 cohort of Knight-Hennessy Scholars, an international, graduate-level scholarship program at Stanford University. Knight-Hennessy Scholars receive full funding to pursue any graduate degree at Stanford and have additional opportunities for leadership training, mentorship, and experiential learning across multiple disciplines.
Hornsby is majoring in civil engineering and minoring in environmental science at NC State, and plans to study environmental engineering in the program at Stanford.
“It’s an absolute honor to be selected for the 2020 cohort of Knight-Hennessy Scholars,” Hornsby said. “I’ve spent my entire undergraduate career learning about and engaging with global water, sanitation, and hygiene issues, and it is a privilege to continue that journey with such passionate peers. The motto of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars is to ‘Out Think, Out Work, and Out Care.’ I hope to use my time at Stanford to exemplify this motto and be prepared to make meaningful improvement to global access to clean water.”
As an undergraduate at NC State, Hornsby has already completed—and led— several projects around the world. She has served as a water and sanitation intern for the Circle of Women for Social Action and Mutual Aid in Africa and a civil/environmental engineering intern for AECOM in Morrisville, N.C. She has also completed lab work in the field, working as a field researcher and undergraduate research assistant in Harris Lab at NC State. In addition, she is a member of Engineers without Borders and is a founding member and vice president for the Global WaSH Student Chapter at NC State.
As a Goodnight Scholar, Hornsby has served as the Senior Legacy Committee chair and Shack-a-thon Committee co-chair. She has also worked as an ambassador, mentor, and retreat leader for the program. In 2017, she was named a Social Innovation Fellow and is now Senior Fellow for the Root Bioscience team, which seeks to mitigate biomass waste in the industrial hemp industry through launching a hemp-based kitty litter.
This is just the latest in a long list of recognitions for Hornsby. She has received the College of Engineering Faculty Senior Scholar award, the Jim and Mozelle Thompson Memorial Scholarship, the J.T. McCarter Memorial Scholarship, Community Foundation of Western N.C. Scholarship, and the Ralph and Ree Edwards Study Abroad Grant as well as several other research-based grants during her four years at NC State.
Hornsby was assisted by the University Fellowship Office in applying for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program. The office helps students identify awards, draft and refine essays and application materials, and acts as a liaison to funding agencies. Fellowship advisors meet with students individually in order to provide unique and appropriate advice.
