Hector Centeno-Lopez and his teammates on the Arlington High football team used to talk about Peyton Manning whenever discussions about all-time great NFL quarterbacks arose in the locker room. Centeno-Lopez never dreamed he would one day receive an email from the University of Tennessee that had Manning’s name included.
Centeno-Lopez, a freshman electrical engineering major, and Mikayla Shumpert, a freshman civil engineering major, were two of the four students this year who received the Peyton Manning Scholarship, an elite four-year award given annually to academically successful incoming Vols who exemplify service, leadership and integrity.
“I was ecstatic when I found out that I was receiving the Peyton Manning Scholarship. It was a complete surprise,” Centeno-Lopez said. “I immediately ran downstairs and told my mom about it. I couldn’t believe they chose me.”
On August 31, Manning, Chancellor Donde Plowman and other UT leaders honored the four newest recipients during a ceremony on campus. All Peyton Manning Scholarship recipients are part of the Haslam Leadership Scholars program. Manning endowed the scholarship when he graduated from UT in 1998. Now in its 29th year, it boasts 69 recipients to date.
“The growth of this program remains a point of pride for me,” Manning said. “This is just the beginning of the positive mark these students will leave on their community and this university. I hope they will leave UT with the same passion for this special place that I have.”
Having grown up in the Knoxville area, Shumpert is aware of how much Manning has meant to UT and the East Tennessee area overall.
“It’s so beautiful what he does. His generosity is amazing because now I don’t have to worry about financials with school,” she said. “He’s kind of like the king of Knoxville and I am so grateful I was selected for this scholarship.”
Engineer’s Day exposure
Centeno-Lopez, a Lakeland, Tennessee resident, moved to the United States from Venezuela when he was 5. He started “falling in love with UT” when he attended Engineer’s Day as a senior at Arlington High. The trip was made possible by Ron Morris and his late wife, Jessica, who established the West Tennessee Engineering Day Initiative Endowment to provide chartered bus transportation, lodging, and meals for high school students from West Tennessee to attend the annual event at the Tickle College of Engineering.
“It was a great experience to travel to UT with my high school for Engineer’s Day. I didn’t get to tour any other colleges I applied to, so it really helped me see how I could fit at UT,” Centeno-Lopez said. “I always liked the idea of staying in the South, and once I got accepted as a Haslam Leadership Scholar, I knew I was going to UT.”
Shumpert attended Engineer’s Day all four years she was in high school at Hardin Valley Academy. She solidified her decision to attend UT after touring the facilities with CEE Department Head Chris Cox on selection weekend.
“I got to see the labs, and that was super cool. I’ve never seen engineering labs of that caliber before,” said Shumpert, who is specializing in structural and transportation engineering with minors in city planning and leadership studies. “Dr. Cox showed me some civil engineering students working with a machine and a whiteboard to have robots draw a Smokey dog. During that experience, I could really see myself at UT.”
Centeno-Lopez, who wants to work in energy policy, is following in his father’s footsteps by pursuing an electrical engineering degree.
“What truly inspired me about engineering was mostly the idea of solving issues and solving problems,” Centeno-Lopez said. “I like always having a problem in front of me that I can solve or at least work towards solving. I want to use engineering to make a positive impact in the world.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (rpotkey@utk.edu)