Neenah senior receives prestigious Beinecke scholarship

Andrew Coan, a junior from Neenah, is one of only 20 students nationwide to receive a Beinecke Brothers Memorial Scholarship, which provides $32,000 toward two years of graduate study.

The award is limited to students in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Coan is majoring in English and philosophy.

College of Letters and Science assistant dean Barbara Wiley says Coan, a 4.0 student who expects to graduate in May 2000, already takes graduate-level courses. His poems are forthcoming in two nationally respected literary magazines and other magazines are giving final consideration to two of his short stories.

He has been an active volunteer on campus, serving as a student mentor for Visit the UW Day program and College for Kids, two programs meant to give elementary school students a glimpse of higher education.

As an undergraduate, Coan has instructed and judged high school debates and worked as an English language tutor for international students, among other activities.

Coan plans to pursue either a master of fine arts degree in creative writing or a doctorate in English Literature.

As if it wasn’t already apparent, Coan is looking at the literary life as a career: “I would like to write novels and teach English literature or creative writing at a university.”

Wiley says Coan is likely to achieve his goals: “Andrew is an oustanding scholar who shows great promise for graduate study. I am confident that he will be admitted by one of the best creative writing programs.”