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Ben Wilkerson named 2020 Lilly Scholar
You could say it’s in the blood for Ben Wilkerson, but that would be selling the Greencastle High School senior a little short.
It’s true that when Ben was named the 2020 Putnam County Lilly Endowment Community Scholar on Thursday, he wasn’t the first member of his family to attain the high honor.
But in joining older brother Zach, the 2016 Lilly Scholar for the county, young Ben did so on his own merits, a fact to which Lilly Selection Committee Chairman Chase Haltom attested in congratulating Wilkerson.
As chairman, Haltom is not a voting member of the Putnam County Community Foundation committee that selects the Lilly Scholar each year. Instead, one of Haltom’s jobs is to review the applications and make it a “blind” process for the voting members. However, he knew from the beginning that Wilkerson’s application would be hard to top.
“I thought, man, this is one of the best applications I’ve ever seen,” Haltom said. “If this guy does well at the dinner and the interview, he’s going to be tough to beat.”
Wilkerson’s interview in particular sticks out to Haltom, who said the process can sometimes be like a “firing squad.”
“It felt like you had invited us there,” Haltom told Wilkerson. “It was coffee with Ben.”
For Wilkerson, it never felt like a firing squad. Instead, he knew the interview was the last hurdle to clear and he needed to make a lasting impression.
“This is the last they’re going to see of me, let’s leave a good impression,” Wilkerson said. “It wasn’t like they were trying to grill me. It was just conversational.”
After all, what does the 18-year-old have to be nervous about?
Certainly not his academics. Wilkerson is at the top of his class through three years with extremely high scores on the college entrance exams. He’s been a member of two state champion academic teams (spelling as a freshman, math as a junior) and two state runners-up (math as a freshman, science as a junior), along with captain multiple times.
His community involvement includes building ramps with Servants at Work, counselor for Camp Invention, CUBES math volunteer and assisting with multiple youth sports camps.
He even serves on the Youth Philanthropy Committee (this year as co-chairman) of PCCF, the very organization that chooses the Lilly Scholar each year.
Wilkerson even hopes to continue his involvement with the Foundation once he’s in college.
“To be honest, I would like to come back, if I do make it into DePauw, and be on the grants committee,” Wilkerson said.
DePauw seems a natural fit. Not only is older brother Zach set to graduate from the local university in May, but father Scott is a geosciences professor at DePauw, while mother Beth works in information services at the university.
Both parents were at the high school for the surprise presentation, a fact of which Ben had to be reminded after chatting with Haltom for a few minutes.
“Not to be critical, but would you hug your mom?” Principal Chad Rodgers said.
Surprising this family, which had been through the Lilly process once before, might have been tough. But Ben said he never felt like he was a lock to be the selection.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Wilkerson said. “Two of my friends were in the final four and I didn’t want to go toe-to-toe with them because they’re great students.”
The other finalists included Josie Lyons of North Putnam High School, Michael White of Greencastle High School and Abigail Teipen of South Putnam High School.
While Wilkerson would appear to be a shoo-in candidate for DePauw, he remained guarded in his words Thursday, saying he is “hoping” to attend the university. The next two choices on his list are Rose-Hulman and Purdue.
Regardless of the location, Wilkerson plans to major in math and computer science with a minor in physics.
After completing his bachelor’s degree, he plans to pursue a doctorate with an eye toward becoming a professor. He said he would love to teach at DePauw or at least remain nearby.
“I’m just incredibly appreciative of this scholarship and of the Foundation for doing this,” Wilkerson said.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is selected following a review process by the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Selection Committee from the Putnam County Community Foundation. The Selection Committee was composed of eight voting members, with two members residing within each of the geographic areas served by the four county school corporations.
The scholarship is highly competitive. There were 20 qualified applicants for the one scholarship award. The selection process included a blind review for the first three phases, followed by a dinner in which the selection committee met with six semi-finalists. The selection process concluded with four finalists having individual interviews with the Committee.
Following the personal interviews, the committee submitted its nominee and alternates to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) for final approval. ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 30 regionally-accredited, degree-granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state which administers the scholarship program.
The scholarships are the result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative to help Hoosier students reach high levels of education. This year, 142 scholarships were awarded statewide. This is the 23rd year for the program.
Including this year, the Lilly Endowment have provided more than $405 million for 4,769 scholarships awarded statewide with 38 Putnam County students being named Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.