Maya 4, 2005 — Kellen Daniel O'Connor of Farragut High School has received the 2005 UT-Battelle Scholarship worth up to $20,000.
O'Connor has a 4.23 grade point average and has earned numerous honors and accolades, including the Tennessee Volunteer Scholarship and the Farragut High School Pride Award for all A's. O'Connor is a member of the Latin Honor Society, was nominated for the National Society of High School Scholars and for Who's Who of U.S. students. He is also a member of the Latin Club, Mu Alpha Theta and the National Junior Classical League and participated in the American Mathematics Competition.
On another level, O'Connor earned first place in the Knoxville City Youth Bowling Tournament during his senior year, is a piano accompanist at Concord United Methodist Church and also plays the trombone, violin and guitar. He is regarded as an excellent problem solver and is especially adept at rebuilding computers, setting up network communications and writing computer programs. In the community, O'Connor is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer, performs with a church choir at nursing homes and missions, and serves dinner at the Volunteer Ministry Center.
The UT-Battelle scholarship is a competitive award presented annually to the child of an employee of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The scholarship is awarded in $5,000 annual increments over a four-year period to an outstanding graduating high school student who plans to study science, mathematics or engineering at the University of Tennessee.
O'Connor, the son of Dan O'Connor and Nina Overton of Knoxville, plans to become a veterinarian. His father is a member of ORNL's Facilities Management Division.
UT-Battelle manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy.