ANN ARBOR—James Yurko, University of Michigan student and Yale, Mich. resident, was awarded the James G. Lewis Engineering Excellence Award during the Golden Key National Honor Society reception. Yurko is the first recipient of the $5,000 scholarship and the first student to be named the James G. Lewis Fellow.

A senior material science and engineering major, Yurko has participated in research projects with Ford Motor Company involving the mechanical behavior of materials used in automotive engines, and spent a summer in Sweden working in an industrial laboratory. In addition, Wayne Jones, associate dean for undergraduate education at U-M College of Engineering, has selected Yurko to perform specialized laboratory work, which is usually done by postdoctoral students. “He is one of the best, if not the best, students in our program,” said Dean Jones.

Yurko is the president of Alpha Sigma Mu, the material science and engineering honors fraternity, belongs to Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, the Knights of Columbus, and is an Eagle Scout.

The James G. Lewis Engineering Excellence Award, an annual scholarship for engineering majors with membership in Golden Key National Honor Society at U-M, honors James G. Lewis, a 1951 U-M engineering graduate and structural engineer for the U.S. Army Corps. His son, James W. Lewis, created Golden Key National Honor Society and the scholarship to highlight exceptional individuals in memory of his father.

University of Michigan