LaGrange, Georgia (December 4, 2024) – ARCS Foundation has released its 2024 Annual Report titled, “Impact Unleashed.” ARCS Foundation has greatly impacted science and technological innovation in the US over the past 65 years, and the report highlights several achievements that empower ARCS to meet its mission to propel scientific innovation in the US. Specifically, they celebrated these milestones in the 2023-2024 academic year:

• ARCS Foundation has dedicated more than $142M in cumulative scholar support since its inception.
• ARCS gave 685 Scholar Awards averaging approximately $8,000 each.
• The ARCS Chapter Engagement Committee launched ARCS Sparks to honor members, boost member engagement, and enhance recognition.

“As our ARCS Scholars unleash the impact of science through discoveries and innovations, ARCS Foundation has spent the past year discovering innovative ways to unleash the impact of our organization,” said ARCS President Beth Wainwright. “As we shift our focus to organization growth, chapter and national cohesiveness, scholar relations, and external outreach, we are positioning ARCS Foundation to have an even greater impact on our nation’s scientific competitiveness.”

Membership was a top priority for the 15 chapters nationwide. ARCS chapters participated in the second annual Invite to Ignite challenge for the chance to win a cash prize. The top three chapters that raised their dues-paying membership by the highest percentage over the course of the year won a cash prize. The top three chapters for 2023-24 were Honolulu (+34.8 percent), Illinois (+19.4 percent), and Los Angeles (+17.3 percent). Overall, ARCS welcomed 62 new members across the 15 chapters.

The ARCS Sparks initiative was created to honor ARCS members who exhibit small, everyday acts of kindness, displays of leadership, and wholehearted commitment to the ARCS Foundation within the chapter or at the national level. Since its launch in January 2024, ARCS National has recognized ten ARCS members from chapters across the US.

The 24-page report also included the announcement of the most recent Hall of Fame inductee, biostatistician Paula H. Diehr, PhD. Diehr was recognized for her groundbreaking work in developing statistical methods and approaches that thousands of medical researchers have adopted for interpreting large datasets. She also developed the Healthy Life Calculator to predict the number of productive years of remaining life based on lifestyle factors.

The report illustrates the results of ARCS Foundation’s investment and features ARCS Scholars such as Christopher Roper (Aerospace Engineering; Georgia Institute of Technology), Emily Briese (Environmental Engineering; Arizona State University), and Lucia Brunel (Chemical Engineering; Stanford University), all of whom are working to advance their respective fields through innovation and discovery.

To view the digital version of the 2024 Annual Report, follow this link.