Scholarship honors UB student veterans

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Julian Chinana, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and junior at the University at Buffalo studying photography, was the recipient of the 2014 General Albert James Myer and Private Harrison Baird Veterans Scholarship.

The award, established in 2007 by U.S. Air Force and Army veteran Robert Gilbert, provides $500 of financial support to UB student veterans enrolled in a major or minor within the College of Arts and Sciences.

The annual scholarship honors the lives of Myer, a graduate of the UB School of Medicine and founder of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and Baird, Gilbert’s uncle and a World War II veteran.

“Although I'm not a UB graduate, I wanted to thank all UB veterans, past, present and future with a gift,” says Gilbert. “My military service sensitized me to the sacrifices veterans make. Saying thank you, while appropriate, sometimes doesn't seem enough, so I wanted them to have a scholarship.”

Chinana, an Albuquerque, New Mexico, native who served in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2002 to 2006, is the scholarship’s fifth recipient. In addition to studying part time, he works a full-time job before returning home to his wife and two children.

“Going from the military, where you’re told where to go and what to do, to a civilian environment where you have to learn everything over again can be tough,” says Chinana. “I think it’s important that people are trying to help with that transition.”

Award recipients are selected based on individual merit and financial need, and must maintain a 3.0 grade point average. The scholarship is presented in the fall and spring semesters, and can support up to four students a year.

Student veterans can apply here.