Three members of the Samford University chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta academic honor society have received graduate fellowships from the national organization.

Honorees are: Ashley McCleery, a 2007 graduate from Signal Mountain, Tenn.; Ann Shivers McNair, a 2006 graduate from Jackson, Miss.; and John Andrew Wesley, a senior music major from Texarkana, Texas.

Only 23 ALD fellowships are awarded annually nationwide, and for Samford to have three recipients in one year is good news for chapter sponsor Dana Basinger.

"It speaks well of the type of students who attend Samford," said Dr. Basinger, noting the highly competitive nature of the national awards. There were 120 applications nationwide this year.

Alpha Lambda Delta recognizes outstanding academic achievement by first-year students.

McCleery, who will attend Fuller Theological Seminary in the fall, will receive a $3,000 fellowship to pursue a master of arts in cross cultural studies with an emphasis on children at risk. She is communications coordinator at Mountain Brook Community Church in Birmingham and a free-lance writer.

McNair, who will attend the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall, will receive a $5,000 fellowship to pursue a master of arts in creative writing. She is currently marketing and community relations specialist at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Miss., and an editor at Mississippi Magazine. 

Wesley, who will attend medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, in New York City, will receive a $3,000 fellowship. He will first spend the 2008-09 academic year as a missionary in Managua, Nicaragua, with Manna Project International.

The Samford chapter is one of 256 ALD chapters nationwide.