Actor Denzel Washington presents scholarships at SUSLA

Denzel and Pauletta Washington, SUSLA Chancellor Ray Belton, and neurosurgeon Keith L. Black are pictured during a check presentation to Southern University, Shreveport.

Actor Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta presented two research scholarships in their family's name in ceremony held on the SUSLA campus June 24.

The Pauletta and Denzel Washington Family Scholar in Neuroscience Awards have been given annually since 2004 by the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Recipients of this year’s scholarships are Donald J. Phillips, 27, a third-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and Henry Wu, 21, who is in his fourth undergraduate year of a highly selective Baccalaureate M.D. program at USC.

The Washington Family Gifted Scholar program provides $2,500 in monthly support for a graduate-level researcher and $2,000 per month for an undergraduate. Recipients work during the summer months under the direction of respected physicians, neurosurgeons and scientists, and prepare a scientific abstract or paper to submit to a national neuroscience, cancer or neurosurgery organization.

In addition to the Washingtons, neurosurgeon Keith L. Black, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai, served as guest speaker. He was joined by Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, SUSLA Chancellor Ray L. Belton, and Laurance Guidry, president and CEO of Caddo Community Action Agency, Incorporated. During the ceremony, Washington presented SUSLA with a $2,000 gift.