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2026 Heinlein Scholarship Recipients
Winners of the Heinlein Society’s annual undergraduate scholarships for the 2026-2027 academic year were announced on July 7, 2026, Robert A. Heinlein’s 119th birthday.
This year’s winners are Riya Gupta, Nora Kane, Leslie Manga-Abomo, William Mar, and Evan Sturdivant. The scholarship awards $4,000 to each recipient. Winners were selected from 310 applications, including 40 international submissions from 22 different countries.
Gupta receives the Society’s new, unnamed scholarship and will attend “California Institute of Technology as a sophomore, majoring in mechanical engineering.” Kane, a repeat winner from last year, received the Virginia Heinlein Memorial Scholarship, which is “dedicated to a female candidate majoring in engineering, math, or biological or physical sciences.” Sturdivant received the Dr. Jerry Pournelle Memorial Scholarship, and Mar received the Dr. Yoji Kondo Memorial Scholarship. Manga-Abomo is the winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Scholarship.
Other finalists were:
- Veronica Mok
- Lily Myers
- Sanjay Nair
- Nevin Roy
- Ayazhan Shuinshbay
- Nina-Rose Smith
- Sarah Witte
The scholarship contest is open to residents of any country who are enrolled as full-time students at an accredited four-year university and majoring in math, engineering, the physical sciences, or science fiction as literature. Applicants must submit a 500-1,000 word essay on a provided topic. The scholarship cannot be offered to incoming freshmen.
For guidelines and more information, visit The Heinlein Society website.
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Finalists for the 2026 
