Elina Treyger, a Cornell University junior studying government, has been awarded a 1999 Beinecke Brothers Memorial Scholarship, a national award.

Beinecke Scholars receive $2,000 upon completion of their undergraduate studies and $15,000 for each of two years in graduate school. Beinecke Scholarships recognize students of exceptional ability and achievement with some history of financial aid and they give preference to those who plan to attend graduate school in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Treyger, a College Scholar from Valley Stream, N.Y., spent a semester at the Institutes d'Etudes Politiques in Paris with the Cornell-Duke-Emory Study Abroad Program in 1998. She also is a Dean's Scholar, an academic-research position honor, and has served as research assistant to Rose McDermott, Christopher Way and Jonathan Cowden, assistant professors in the Cornell government department.

"This scholarship really helped me to make up my mind about further education," said Treyger, who will use the award to pursue an advanced degree in international relations and political theory. "I was very unsure of whether I would continue after graduation. Now I have some sort of timeline to plan around. Of course I'm thrilled -- for more than financial reasons. It really validates my education."

The Beinecke scholarship commemorates three brothers -- Edwin, Frederick and Walter Beinecke -- through awards to young men and women of exceptional ability and achievement. Since 1975 the program has selected more than 180 college juniors from 72 different schools. The program seeks to encourage highly motivated students to take full advantage of graduate opportunities available to them.

Beinecke scholars have been nominated by their college deans and are endorsed, at Cornell, by a faculty committee. This year the Beinecke Scholarship Program, which includes 90 undergraduate schools nationwide, received 70 nominations and granted 20 awards. The last time Cornell was eligible for this award was in 1996-97. Since 1989-90, four Cornellians have won the scholarship.