Meghan Eaton '08
On August 16, Steamboat Foundation celebrated its Fourth Annual Final Dinner Ceremony at New York City's Harvard Club, where Meghan Eaton and the ten other Steamboat Scholars officially commemorated the end of the ten-week internship and leadership-building program. This summer, Steamboat Foundation provided 11 scholars from different universities with challenging, closely-mentored internships in fields such as journalism, sports management, fashion design, medicine, and art history. In addition, each scholar was given a grant of $12,000 and participated in leadership-building activities and social events with the other scholars.
Meghan, a senior and Health Sciences major at Northeastern University, participates in the Medical Career Exploration Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital where she volunteers as a Hospital Ambassador and shadows physicians. She has also worked at a Biology Research Laboratory at Northeastern for the past four semesters. Through Steamboat Foundation, she interned this summer at Northeastern's internship grant sponsor Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where she worked under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Sallan, Chairman of the Department of Cancer Biology/Neuro-Oncology and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School. In the Pediatric Oncology research department, Meghan focused on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the most common of childhood cancers. She contributed to a "Bony Morbidity" study, considering the long term effects of bone marrow transplants on pediatric patients.
In addition to her work experience, Meghan participated with fellow Scholars in leadership dinners that were facilitated by leadership coach and psychologist Dr. Tom Inck, as well as Foundation Dinners where scholars interacted with leaders in fields of fashion, business, and art. This year, Foundation Dinner Speakers included Paul Massey, Apparel Design Director at Vineyard Vines clothing company; Danny Meyer, restaurateur of New York City's top restaurants and author of the New York Times Bestseller Setting the Table; and Alan Chong, curator of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Steamboat Foundation was founded in 2003 by Andrew Walter and Peer Pedersen, Jr., Managing Partners of Blue Orchid Capital, LLC. The Foundation selects students based on their academic and extracurricular achievements, potential for leadership, financial need, and endorsement from university officials. Candidates undergo a rigorous application process involving a preliminary screening by their respective university review committee, interviews with Steamboat executives, and finally an interview with the internship grant sponsor or host institution where the scholar is assigned meaningful work with a senior mentor.
Since its inception, 36 young men and women have excelled in rigorous work environments and have challenged themselves during leadership-building endeavors through their Steamboat summer experience. They have worked at Steamboat Foundation�s elite partner sponsor organizations: ABC Radio, Bloomberg News, The Center for Court Innovation, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Facing History and Ourselves, Forbes Inc., Hospital for Special Surgery, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, New York Football Giants, and Vineyard Vines.
Northeastern University juniors currently in receipt of financial aid and interested in working at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are invited to apply. Please contact Kate McLaughlin at ka.mclaughlin@neu.edu with any questions.
For more information about the Steamboat Foundation, please visit Steamboat Foundation website or contact Executive Director Eden Werring at ewerring@steamboatfoundation.org.
