Steven P. Starkovich Scholarships and Awards

Steven P. Starkovich Opportunity Entrance Award 

Steven P. Starkovich Promise Scholarship for Students in Physics & Astronomy

Steven P. Starkovich (Ph.D., Physics, '93) studied general relativity and classical field theory under the guidance of the late UVic Physics Professor Fred Cooperstock. Starkovich recalls with great fondness his life and work as a graduate student at UVic, and how he benefitted from the excellent teaching and mentorship of the faculty. As a graduate student he also provided several years of department-sponsored assistance to UVic undergraduates (mostly non-physics majors) who were studying physics at that time.

Taken together, these experiences had an important and very positive effect in shaping his subsequent career of teaching and mentoring undergraduates at a small college in Washington State, a career that eventually extended over 27 years, with seven of those years in senior academic administration. Now in retirement, he continues his work in mathematical physics and in 2021 he published an undergraduate textbook on the foundations of the subject.

For students both then and now, the opportunity of a higher education is precious and financial aid is often determinative as to whether a student can finish their course of study. The Steven P. Starkovich Opportunity Entrance Award seeks to support those Indigenous students for whom the opportunity of a higher education otherwise may be out of reach. The Steven P. Starkovich Promise Scholarship for Students in Physics & Astronomy recognizes an academically outstanding undergraduate student for whom financial aid is an important consideration in completing their academic program.