Financials

Virginia Smith (1949 - 2021) was Girls In Research's co-founder, Elizabeth Ulanova's adoptive grandmother. An African-American woman born in South Carolina, she spent the last 5 years of her life living with Elizabeth's family in California. A college graduate, and two-time American military veteran - a remarkable feat of being in both the American Navy and the American Army as a black woman in the 1970's, she passed away at Long Beach Veteran's Hospital - the week after Elizabeth had applied to Harvard University for graduate school. One of Elizabeth's biggest cheerleaders and proudest advocates as she went through her undergraduate journey at Columbia, and then graduate journey at Cambridge, Virginia's biggest life motto was to follow one's arrow. This scholarship is dedicated to the strong women who unflinchingly follow their dreams and showcase the bravery of following their own path.

Liu Lan Yin (1951 - 2021) was Girls In Research's co-founder, Elizabeth Ulanova's aunt. Born in Tianjin, China at the height of the devastating Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, Lan Yin was the eldest in a family of four siblings and shouldered the responsibility of being their caretaker since elementary school, enduring through the country's deadliest periods of famine. Despite numerous prestigious offers to go abroad, she chose to dedicate her life to her hometown, eventually rising to lead one of the state's largest technology manufacturing firms. Lan Yin served as Elizabeth's first great female role model, exemplifying true leadership by earning the respect of her peers and colleagues through dedication, humility, hard work, and by example. This scholarship is dedicated to young women who proudly embody Lan Yin's spirit of leadership and resilience.