Florida Tech Ph.D. Student Receives Scholarship Award for Work with Teens and Suicide

MELBOURNE, FLA. –Florida Institute of Technology clinical psychology Psy.D. student Laurence Pass was honored with a Graduate Scholarship Award. Pass received a $500 scholarship funded by Taylor 4 Teens, Taylor King’s Legacy Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides resources for teens and spreads teen suicide awareness and prevention.

Selected by Mary Beth Kenkel, dean, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts (CPLA), Pass was recognized for her volunteer work, acting as a liaison with the CPLA, overseeing presentations and promoting the Taylor 4 Teens program.

Located in Melbourne, Fla., Taylor 4 Teens, Taylor King’s Legacy Foundation, Inc., was established by the family of Taylor Renae King, a 14 year-old Melbourne High School freshman who took her own life in September 2010.

In 2007, Pass received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and in 2012 received her master’s degree in psychology from Florida Tech. Pass also holds a master’s of education degree and a teaching certification in secondary mathematics education. Originally from Bradenton, Fla., Pass is in her fourth year of the psychology doctoral program and expects to graduate in the fall of 2015. After graduation, she plans to become a clinical psychologist in the United States Air Force.