Ashby (AJ) Henningsen, aged 20 years old and hailing from Baltimore, Md, has been announced by the Amputee Coalition as the recipient of the Christina Skoski, MD Scholarship for 2014-2015, totaling $1,000. A coalition news release notes that Henningsen is a President’s List honors student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and was born with a congenital limb difference.

The release states that he was a National Merit Commended Student, a Princeton Book Award winner, and a Christus Honors graduate. Henningsen also reportedly engaged in a range of high school co-curricular activities such as varsity basketball, cross-country, lead trumpet in school concerts and jazz bands, second chair in the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Peabody Conservatory, four mission trips with his church youth group, and volunteer work at a downtown Baltimore food pantry.

Sue Stout, interim president and CEO, Amputee Coalition, states in the release that the organization is pleased to announce Henningsen as the award’s recipient, “AJ is truly a well-rounded student and is also philanthropic with his time. He serves as a role model for his peers and we are proud to award him this scholarship for demonstrating excellence in the classroom and in the community.”

Henningsen adds, “It’s a great privilege to receive this scholarship, and the esteem that it represents. I aim to honor the award and its namesake by using it in the best way possible in order to further my academic goals.”

According to the release, Dr. Christina Skoski established the scholarship through a $25,000 scholarship fund in 2009 based on her belief that limb loss should not be a barrier to academic or professional success.

For more information or to make a donation to the Christina Skoski, MD Scholarship Fund, visit the Amputee Coalition website or call (888) 267-5669.

Source: Amputee Coalition