Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli has established a scholarship to benefit outstanding student leaders in the Sigma Nu fraternity.
Martinelli, who graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1973, donated $100,000 which resulted in the Ricardo Martinelli Endowed Sigma Nu Leadership Scholarship, the university announced in a news release Tuesday.
“President Martinelli is an exceptional friend and alumnus of ours," Chancellor G. David Gearhart said in the release. “This gift is just another example of his generosity and dedication to the University of Arkansas. We have been honored to get to know him better over the last several years and appreciate his latest contribution to provide financial support for outstanding students.”
Martinelli was elected as president of Panama in 2009. He has remained an active alumnus of the university and returns to campus often. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Arkansas Alumni Association in 2002 and was inducted into the Towers of Old Main in 2013.
This scholarship is the second one established in Martinelli’s name. In 2009, the Ricardo A. Martinelli Endowed Scholarship was established to provide financial assistance to students from the Republic of Panama who wanted to pursue higher education at the University of Arkansas, the release states.