Four local high school students were awarded the prestigious James Hillier Foundation Scholarship during an awards ceremony on Thursday, June 11, 2026.
James Hillier, who became one of Canada’s most famous scientists, was born and raised in Brantford Ontario. Along with his many internationally-renowned inventions, Hillier was also known for his comment “Success favours a prepared mind.”
Having received a scholarship to attend the University of Toronto during the 1930s depression, Hillier often said, “I would probably never have gone to university, if it had not been for a scholarship I received upon graduation from Brantford Collegiate Institute.” It was his desire to see others assisted in the same way.
The Foundation began awarding the scholarships back in 1997 and since then, has provided over $1,585,000 in financial support to local students who wish to pursue a career in scientific technology, with a special emphasis on research.
To date, the scholarship has assisted a total of 94 students with their four-year undergraduate degrees.
Peter Dennis, Chair of the Scholarship Selection Committee, said that each year, the local high schools get to refer up to two students.
“Each of the high schools will sit down, look at the kids that they have in their school, and select candidates in its own way,” he said. “Some of them do little interviews and some have other ways of choosing the students. We get the references from the schoolsl and then they apply to us.”
In order to be eligible, students must be a graduate of a secondary school with Brantford or the County of Brant, have been a full-time student and resident of the area during the final three years of their schooling, demonstrated an interest in scientific research, been accepted to a college or university with accredited curriculum, and have indicated their intentions of pursuing scientific or technological research.
For an applicant to be considered, they must also have a graduating average of at least 90 per cent in his or her best six subjects, including at least two sciences. They must also provide their transcripts, a signature from their principal, and at least two letters of support, one of which must come from a science teacher
“We usually have up to 12 kids that will submit an application, and roughly half of the kids that submit an application will get an interview,” said Dennis. “We give the scholarship to four of the students based on our evaluation, and the two students who don’t get awarded a scholarship, will receive $1,000 grants.”
The Chair said that it’s never quite easy choosing who makes it through to the interview stage, but that the committee tries to honour the qualities that Hillier embodied.
“Every year, we sit and we look at the applications, and we’re just blown away by the amount of things that kids get involved in. It’s pretty impressive,” said Dennis. “We really look for research-based kids, the ones that have a real passion for science. We try to get students who sort of fit the mold of James Hillier himself when he was going off to university, full of enthusiasm and interested in research.”
This year’s scholarship recipients were Arham Hasan and Sajid Monowar from Assumption College School, Zorawar Singh from Pauline Johnson Collegiate and Vocational School, and Andrew Song from North Park Collegiate and Vocational School.
Hasan will attend the University of Toronto’ Engineering Science Program, while Monowar will study Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University. Sing will pursue Physics at the University of Waterloo, and Song plans to study Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto.
The scholarship provides up to $7,000 per year over a four year period to cover general academic fees, for a potential award total of $28,000 per student.
During the awards ceremony, Peter Giordano, Chair of the James Hillier Foundation, spoke about James Hillier’s career path and accomplishments, while Nolan Cross, one of the 2020 scholarship recipients, discussed his journey from high school to undergraduate degree.
“We’ve had such good people who have gotten the scholarship through the years, and we don’t always get to hear about where they are and what they’re doing, so we figured this was a good way to do it.” said Dennis. “It’s sort of nice for the kids, their parents and the teachers, too, to see somebody who’s been through the process. Someone who got a scholarship, has been successful at university and talks about what they’re doing.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
