Indiana County student selected for 2024 Hilliard Robertson Award
INDIANA, Pa. — An Indiana County student attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania received the 2024 Patricia Hilliard Robertson Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Female Science Student.
Cleo McMahan, a biology major from Indiana, was selected for the scholarship, which was presented April 8 during IUP’s annual STEM Women’s Summit, highlighting current women scientists and alumnae working in the science fields.
The Hilliard Robertson scholarship was established as a living legacy for Dr. Hilliard Robertson, a 1985 graduate of IUP from Homer City, who died May 24, 2001, in Houston from injuries sustained in the crash of a private plane at Wolfe Air
Park in Manvel, Texas. Dr. Hilliard Robertson had been assigned as a crewsupport astronaut for the Expedition Two crew that was preparing for service aboard the International Space Station in 2001.
Dr. Hilliard Robertson received the Distinguished Alumni Award from IUP in 2000.
McMahan, a 2020 graduate of Indiana High School, is the daughter of Mark and Bonnie McMahan. She has been recognized for academic excellence by her department. Upon her graduation in the spring, she plans to attend West Liberty University to pursue a master’s degree in zoo science.
“I am honored to accept this award,” McMahan said. “I cannot emphasize how much I have enjoyed my time here at IUP. The staff here is outstanding and has been more than willing to work with me to make sure all my goals are accomplished.”
The award is presented by family members of the late Dr. Hilliard Robertson, including her mother, Ilse Hilliard of Homer City, who was a long-time faculty member at IUP in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
“This scholarship is a living memorial that keeps Patty’s memory and legacy alive,” Ilsa Hilliard said. “It also represents her values, education and a life full of activities and adventure. I find it deeply, profoundly moving that IUP continues to highlight her in this way. It is very meaningful.”
In December 2023, the late Dr. Hilliard Robertson was honored with the naming of a Cygnus spacecraft. The spacecraft, constructed by Northrop Grumman, was named NG-20: the S.S. Patricia
“Patty” Hilliard Robertson.
“It’s our tradition to name each Cygnus spacecraft after a significant figure in human spaceflight,” company officials said. “Dr. Robertson was selected in honor of her accomplishments as a space medicine fellow, flight instructor and pilot, and her service as a NASA astronaut.”
The S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson was launched on Jan. 30 and arrived at the International Space Station on Feb. 1, where it was installed to the Earth-facing port of the Unity module. The spaceship is the 20th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services flight to the space station for NASA.
The Patricia Hilliard Robertson Center for Aviation Medicine at the Indiana Regional Medical Center was named in her honor in 2009.