The 2012 winner of the Harold Taft Scholarship is Amanda Robinson, a junior at Texas A&M University. Her major is meteorology and minor is mathematics.
In her scholarship application, Robinson wrote, "After I graduate I plan to go into forecasting as a career. It is the part of meteorology I most enjoy and the part that I feel makes a direct impact on everyone. I like making a difference in people's lives for the better, and without weather forecasting most people would be lost."
NBC 5 /KXAS-TV made the Harold Taft Scholarship possible thanks to a generous donation several years ago. The namesake of the program is Harold Taft, who served as Chief Meteorologist at NBC 5 (WBAP and KXAS-TV) from 1949 until 1991.
The Lone Star Emmy Education Foundation administrates the scholarship. Robinson's achievement was announced at the Lone Star Emmy Gala at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Saturday, November 10, 2012.
NBC 5 Chief Meteorologist David Finfrock serves as chair of the committee for the Scholarship program.
The inaugural winner was another Texas A&M graduate Jorge Torres, who is now a meteorologist at KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas. Another winner, Lauryn Gonzalez is now a meteorologist at KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas.
