PhD Candidate Amy Hofstra Earns APTF Scholarship for 2021 Semester
Annual Program Recognizes Scholars Who Pursue Careers in Transportation
Great news reached the Urban Transportation Center at the start of the Fall 2021 semester: Amy Hofstra, a PhD candidate in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, was granted a scholarship through the American Public Transportation Foundation (APTF).
The annual scholarship program from APTF, which is affiliated with the American Public Transportation Association, was launched to assist scholars who choose to pursue careers in transit.
“I’m really honored that I was selected to be one of the scholars nationally to be granted this scholarship,” Amy said. “It’s very flattering because I’ll now have the opportunity to engage with other members of APTA, which is a great organization that does great work. From a career perspective, the scholarship helps validate the scope of my interests.”
To earn the APTF scholarship, Amy had to draft an essay that focused on her career goals in public transportation.
“My essay focused on my current research, which is evaluating emerging forms of public transit, and from a broader equity perspective, what values they bring to society,” Amy noted. “The transportation industry needs to make appropriate decisions on what kinds of public transit to invest in and why the investment should be made.”
The APTF scholarship funds can be used during the academic year to assist with tuition or other educational expenses. Each year, up to 30 scholarships are awarded. All applicants had to be sponsored by an APTA member.
Amy thanked UTC Director Dr. P.S. Sriraj and CUPPA Professor Kazuya Kawamura, her dissertation advisors, for their support in the scholarship process and continued encouragement.
"Amy's recognition by APTA is an acknowledgement of her work in the area of public transportation at a time when the industry is at a crossroads,” Dr. Sriraj said. “And it is reflective of the hard work she has put into shaping her dissertation over the last couple of years. A very well-deserved honor, and we expect more laurels coming her way in the future."
In 2019 and 2020, Amy earned the George Krambles Transportation Scholarship Award, a program managed by the UTC. In addition to Krambles scholarship, she also received The Provost's Graduate Internship Award, which she used to spend a summer as a Pace Suburban Bus intern in 2020.
Amy is pursuing her doctoral degree through the Department of Urban Planning and Policy within CUPPA.