Arizona State Students Entered into Elite Tillman Scholars Program


The Pat Tillman Foundation named two Arizona State University graduate students, Air Force veteran Lindsay Lorson and Arizona Army National Guard veteran Vivin Paliath, Tillman Scholars earlier this month.
The two will join an elite group of 60 national recipients selected this year to the 10th Tillman Scholar class, which will receive more than $1.3 million in scholarships.
“I was honored, humbled, and surprised,” said Lorson, on her selection. “Pat Tillman’s legacy and his commitment to service and community, it’s legendary…it speaks to me.”
Lorson served in the Air Force for 13 years, has done charitable work for wounded veterans and spent time in Cambodia working with a humanitarian agency rescuing children.
She is now a social worker pursuing a second master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Applied Behavior Analysis.
“I just want to serve these vulnerable populations, kids, families, victims of human trafficking,” she said. “I feel like I have a gift for it, and I don’t want to waste it.  I’m honored to be named a Pat Tillman scholar and excited for what that brings.”
Vivin Paliath is an immigrant from India who served as a logistics specialist in the Arizona Army National Guard including a combat tour in Baghdad. He plans to continue a future in cybersecurity as a civilian.
“It gives me an opportunity to kind of come back to what I was doing in the military,” Paliath said. “Basically, protecting the country but at the same time leveraging my academic knowledge and my professional experience.”
Paliath is now a senior software architect at Chandler-based software company Infusionsoft.
“I’m really humbled by getting this award and really thankful for the opportunity,” he said. “I’m hoping I can live up to Pat Tillman’s legacy.”
 

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