Redding Student Awarded Matthew L. Berry Memorial Scholarship

REDDING, CT — Olivia E. Fassman, daughter of Kenneth and Katherine Fassman of Redding, was awarded the Redding Republicans' Matthew L. Berry Memorial Scholarship, given at last month’s Joel Barlow High School commencement ceremony.

The scholarship, which is sponsored by the Redding Republican Town Committee and funded by the Berry family, is given annually to a graduating high school senior who demonstrates a commitment to using his/her higher education for the purpose of becoming an enlightened citizen who will make a difference in the world.

Fassman was among a select group of students to graduate Joel Barlow with a Diploma With Distinction, honoring those with exceptional academic achievements and personal integrity in all aspects of scholarship. She is a member of the National Honor Society, French Honor Society, was nominated for the Connecticut Technology Council of Women of Innovation and was a finalist in the American Chemical Society First Year Excellence in Chemistry Competition. She was on the Joel Barlow Tennis and Indoor Track teams and was Captain of Track in 2019. While at Barlow, she completed a college course entitled Introduction to Public Health, completed the EdAdvance Regional Healthcare Internship at Danbury Hospital, did a job shadow with a Senior Research Analyst/Biostatistician at Harvard Medical School and participated in the Yale Young Scholars program in Biostatistics and Medical Research, where she has also worked as an intern the last two summers.

This fall Fassman will be attending Cornell University, where she intends to pursue degrees in mathematics and computer science. "I am very grateful to the Berry family and the Redding Republicans for awarding me this scholarship, which will help me pursue my dream of becoming a biostatistician with the goal of solving health problems and saving lives," She said.

In a joint statement, Leonard Berry, Matthew's father, and Steven Gagnon, chairman of the Redding Republican Town Committee, said, "We are pleased and honored a to be able to grant this award to Olivia. She is clearly a most outstanding and accomplished young women with real vision of how she intends to contribute to society."