2020-2021 and 2021-2022: Gail Ghettalae

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Gail Ghettalae enlisted in the Marine Corps from Corona, California in March 2009 after gra

duating from high school a few months early. She served in the Marine Corps from 2009 to 2020 as an Avionics Technician on the H-1 Bell Helicopters and obtained the qualification of multi-system Quality Assurance Representative on the UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft. She deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, deployed on the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in 2014-2015, and deployed to Okinawa in 2015. 

After separating from the Marine Corps, Gail Ghettalae started at the University of Kansas in the fall of 2020, taking all the required math courses to be able to declare as an Aerospace Engineering major while also taking required KU core courses. For the Fall 2020 semester and Spring 2021 semester, her cumulative GPA was a 3.97. She was able to meet all the KU requirements to declare as an Aerospace Engineering major and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. She is also currently the Vice President of Finance for KU Student Veterans of America.

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2019-2020: Thomas Angel

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Thomas served in the Army as an artillery forward observer.  During his ten years with the Army, he served two tours in Iraq, was the recipient of the Combat Action Badge, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, and three Good Conduct Medals.  Thomas is seeking a dual major in Behavioral Neuroscience and Italian, a minor in Psychology, and has received two certificates – one in Brain and Mind and the other in the Global Awareness program. His aspiration is to go to medical school to become a psychiatrist or apply to a graduate program in psychology to become a psychologist.  After ten years on active duty, he found himself coping with depression and anxiety while returning to a “normal” life. He was the recipient of therapy through the VA and now advocates for defeating the stigma of mental illness.  As such, he started a veteran led podcast and apparel company,  The Kensington Corner, which is now a Top 100 ranked podcast nationally in the Mental Health sub-genre on Apple Podcast.

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2019-2020: Antonio Angulo

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Antonio enlisted in the Army in 2010 and served for eight years as an infantryman where he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant after four short years. During these eight years, he deployed to Afghanistan, Kuwait and South Korea and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Air Assault Badge, Army Commendation Medal (6th award), and Army Achievement Medal (6th award) to name a few. Since leaving active duty, Antonio has continued to leverage his military experiences, both good and bad, for continuous motivation and drive. While at KU, he has earned a 3.97 Overall GPA and 4.0 GPA in his academic discipline, Accounting. He is a part of KU’s student-veteran peer advisor program which aims to help new student veterans navigate college life by providing one-on-one personal support during their transition. His goals are to graduate with his accounting degree, pursue a Master of Accounting, and become a Certified Public Accountant.

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2018-2019: JR Cadwallader

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Served in the US Marine Corps for eight years, including one tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.  He attained the rank of Sergeant before being medically discharged due to injuries sustained overseas (dislocation of both shoulders, injured cervical spine and torn knee meniscus while performing combat operations.  Cadwallader is a first-generation college student, and a current MBA candidate at the University of Kansas School of Business.  He served as President of the KU Student Veterans of America Chapter in 2017-2018.  He remains highly active in mentoring new student veterans.

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2020 Update: JR graduated with his MBA in December of 2019 and now serves as a Consulting Senior Analyst at Accenture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015:​  Corey Leach 

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Corey grew up in Olathe, KS and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2011.  While on a foot patrol in Afghanistan, he stepped into an IED blast zone and suffered severe injuries to his neck, left eye, shoulders, and left leg.  After medically retiring from the Army in 2014, he entered KU majoring in exercise science.  His goal is to become a physical therapist working with veterans and athletes.

 

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2014: Tim Hornik

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A native of Chicago, Tim is a retired U.S. Army captain and president of the Kansas Regional Group of the Blinded Veterans Association.  In 2004, while serving in Iraq as an air defense artillery platoon leader, Tim was shot and subsequently left blinded.  Despite his injuries, he earned a master's degree in social work from KU in 2010 and will pursue a doctorate in therapeutic science starting in the fall.  He plans to use his degree, along with his considerable social work case management experience, to assist and advocate for disabled veterans​.

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2020 Update: Timothy placed his doctoral aspirations on hold to pursue a budding career within the Department of Veterans Affairs. He aims to finish the work he started in the future within a different program with closer alignment to his professional goals.

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For more information about Veteran Benefits at KU and this scholarship, please visit the University of Kansas.