Alya Akhtar (left) and Nicholas Plantamura (right) are the 2023 recipients of the Henry M. Chestnut Scholarship awarded through the Augusta-Ft. Gordon AFCEA Educational Foundation. Each student will receive $2,000 to use towards their college degree.
Alya graduated from Lakeside High School and plans to major in Neuroscience at Georgia Tech. Nicholas also graduated from Lakeside High School and plans to major in Chemistry at Georgia Tech.
We created the Henry M. Chestnut Scholarship in 2019 to honor of Ben’s beloved father, Henry M. Chestnut, whose military career helped inspire his love of technology and industrial design. It’s an annual scholarship for two students who have shown excellence in STEM subjects and who plan to seek a bachelor’s degree in a STEM-related field at a four-year institution or community college, so long as they intend to transfer and complete their bachelor’s degree. The Augusta-Ft. Gordon chapter’s scholarship committee selects the recipients every year.
Ben Chestnut was a recipient of an AFCEA scholarship in 1996, which proved to be transformational. We’re proud to give students this same opportunity and wish Alya and Nicholas the best of luck as they continue their studies!