In late May, Club Members Linda Berg-Cross and Kevin Flynn interviewed two candidates for scholarship funds as approved by the Club Board through the Rotary Charitable Foundation of North Bethesda.  Both applications were approved by the Scholarship Committee and passed on to the Club and Foundation Boards, which gave their approvals in late May. We’re happy to announce that both candidates have accepted the scholarships and are planning to join us at our June 10 meeting.

Lexus Soumahoro

Lexus is is graduating from Montgomery College this spring and will continue her studies at UMBC at Shady Grove. She aspires to a career in the foreign service and is trilingual (Spanish, French and English).  She is alone in the U.S. without family and has been self-supporting since high school. She is currently working two jobs as well as taking courses.

 Darryl Jonathan Terry

Daryl is requesting money to continue his studies at UMBC Shady Grove campus.  He works at a veterinary clinic in Clarksburg and attends the University of Maryland.  The number of college courses he signs up for are determined by his work hours so he remains debt free. He lives with his mother and grandmother.

Our North Bethesda Rotarian Bruce received his B.S. degree in Fisheries (Marine Biology) from the University of Washington in 1968 and a Ph.D. in Pathology from the University of Oregon Medical School in 1972. He began his scientific career at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences prior to becoming Director of the University of Maryland System-wide Program in Toxicology and Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He then served as Associate Director for Science in the Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine at CDC / ATSDR. He is currently a private consultant and Adjunct Professor, Emory School of Public Health and previously a Presidents Professor of Biomedical Science at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.  Dr. Fowler is an internationally recognized expert on the toxicology of metals and has served on a number of State, National and International Committees in his areas of expertise. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Association and past chair of the Advocacy Committee. He is past Chair of Federal Legislative Committee for the Maryland National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) and a Paul Harris Multiple Fellow of Rotary International. He is also a … Read More »

Clark Reed believes environmental sustainability is a critical component to our quality of life. As an Environment Commissioner in Rockville, he helped found the city’s Solar Co-op in 2015 which grew to include two counties in 2021. He has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for over 25 years in the ENERGY STAR program helping hospitals, hotels, and retail stores decarbonize by improving energy efficiency. His home is the first certified Net Zero Energy home in Montgomery County, and the eleventh one in Maryland. Clark enjoys beekeeping, gardening, running, and doing DIY projects with his wife and son. 

Lilita Bergs is the director of the Latvian Museum in Rockville MD. The all-volunteer museum, founded in 1979, is operated by the American Latvian Association in The United States, headquartered at the same facility.  The exhibits focus on the history of Latvia from prehistoric times to the present and showcase traditional costumes, jewelry and folk arts.  Included are video references to the history of Latvian-Americans who fled the Communist takeover in World War II.

Lilita Bergs holds an MA degree in anthropology from Syracuse University and is retired from a long career in a variety of American history museums in both curatorial and management roles. These include the Rochester Museum and Science Center and Old Sturbridge Village. She has been involved with the Latvian Museum since its founding. She is active in a number of local and national Latvian-American organizations and preservation projects.