The IESNYC Announces Sarah Dlinn as the 2016 IESNYC Scholarship Recipient

The IESNYC announced Sarah Dlinn, who attends the MFA Lighting Design program at Parsons School of Design as the winner of the first annual IESNYC Scholarship. This merit based scholarship comes with a monetary value of $25,000 to support a full-time, graduate degree candidate in architectural lighting enrolled in an accredited college or university located in New York state. The Scholarship is unprecedented in the history of the IES and represents the first time a Section in the Society has supported higher education to such an extent.

The 2016 IESNYC Scholarship Judging Panel considered all of the excellent candidates for the first Section scholarship and determined that Sarah met and exceeded the criteria. The IESNYC were especially impressed by her educational goals, leadership qualities, and support for our lighting community.

Sarah’s interest in lighting design began when she was an undergraduate student in the Interior Design program at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where she received her Bachelor of Science. She chose to do her graduate work at Parsons because of its renowned lighting design program. 

"I am grateful and honored to have been selected by the IESNYC as winner of the scholarship," says Dlinn. "Being the recipient of this scholarship is also a confirmation to myself that I am going in the right direction in terms of my career path and potential. I feel that other students will recognize and appreciate the investment that IESNYC is making in their future and will look to becoming actively involved."

"Since joining Parsons Sarah Dlinn demonstrated high quality design work and a strong commitment to architectural lighting design community and Parsons is very proud that she is the recipient of the 2016 IESNYC Scholarship," says Glenn Shrum, director MFA Lighting Design, Parsons School of Design, School of Constructed Environments. "The Scholarship is one of the many examples of the commitment the IESNYC has to supporting the next generation of lighting designers. The significance of this financial support will impact not only the career of the winning student, but also the continued growth of the lighting design profession."

The intention of the Scholarship was that if the Section could help to relieve the economic burden of attending graduate school for even just one deserving student, it would be worthy endeavor. In 2016, the Scholarship was wholeheartedly approved by the Section’s Board of Managers who felt it is a valuable investment in the future of the New York lighting community and a model program that other IES sections could follow.

"We have always been a strong voice for education within the lighting community," says Brian Belluomini, president of the IESNYC and principal of Shimstone Design Studio. "Supporting meritorious students, is our Section’s way of inspiring the next generation of professionals in the field of architectural lighting. Sarah Dlinn is a shining example of a student who deserves the Section’s encouragement and support."