Robert P. Balles Mathematics Scholarship
The donor for this award died in 2022 (exact date needed), and as of 2023 this award is unfunded and inactive.
Description and selection criteria
The following appears underneath the corresponding plaque in the Math Department:
Robert P. Balles is a retired community college mathematics professor, retired businessman, and investor. His mission is to recognize and reward the most outstanding math majors entering their senior year at Cal Poly. The Robert P. Balles Mathematics Scholarship was established in 2005. The students selected will have achieved the highest cumulative GPA in mathematics coursework at the 200 level or above for their first three years of study.
According to the above blurb, this scholarship was intended for students:
- entering their senior year at Cal Poly
- having the highest GPA in MATH courses at the 200-level or above
From the records, it is clear this award was almost always given to two students.
Donor info
Based on the blurb above, we know that Robert P. Balles was a community college mathematics professor, businessman and investor. If I learn anything else about him, I will add it here.
Past recipients
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Emeric Battaglia, Eric Ha |
| 2021 | Sarah Mantell, Ian Gallagher |
| 2020 | Kaitlyn Moulton, Michal Golovanevsky |
| 2019 | Joel Pion, Ryan Zesch |
| 2018 | Paige Hillen, Shannon Cardoza |
| 2017 | Sean Gonzales, Julia Gladding |
| 2016 | Nolan Schock, Ryan Raasch |
| 2015 | Andrew Gallatin, Matthew Varble |
| 2014 | Brian Jones, Anthony Kling |
| 2013 | Ashley Chandler, Matthew Rodrigues |
| 2012 | Eric Cramer, Chad Duna |
| 2011 | Shawn Garrity, Trevor Jones |
| 2010 | James Hall, Jeremy Kun |
| 2009 | Joshua Pollitz, Kendall Rosales |
| 2008 | Hunter Glanz, Tina Wolf |
| 2007 | Matthew Robinson, Andrew Tsui |
| 2006 | Scott Maccarone |
| 2005 | Martin Harrison |
According to the plaque (and the printed page below it), there were no awards given in 2017-2018, but four awards given in 2019-2020. This feels like a mistake to me, so I've adjusted the dates for the winners in 2018, 2019 and 2020. I'll try to find out the true story.