Caroline DeRose, a 2021 Olean High School Class of 1961 Scholarship recipient, is currently studying civil engineering at Northwestern University, with a minor in architectural engineering and design. DeRose, who excelled in math and science coursework in high school (the OHS Class of 1961 scholarship is for the male and female with the highest average in math and science) has continued to demonstrate her academic aptitude and is now a member of Northwestern University’s Society of Women Engineers, Association for Women in Mathematics and American Society of Civil Engineers. She is also a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity, where she conducts volunteer work advocating for better outcomes for children placed in the foster care system. In the summer of her freshman year, she redesigned a campus walking path to meet Americans with Disability Act guidelines and aid her fellow classmates with and without disabilities. Additionally, she competed in DataFest, a national undergraduate data analysis case competition where teams of students analyze a complex dataset from a major company and mine it for insights, with her team placing first for its data insights.

DeRose plans to graduate with an engineering degree and work in the engineering and construction management field. Her goal is to gain experience with urban systems and to help reform and rejuvenate rural and underprivileged areas through engineering.