Meryl Streep, Oscar-winning American actress, is all set to visit the University of Massachusetts, Lowell campus for an event, Feb.5, to establish two scholarship funds.
The event titled "A Conversation with Meryl Streep" at the Tsongas Center will see the Academy Award winner discussing her acting career. Andre Dubus III, UMass Lowell English professor and bestselling author, will moderate the talk with 'The Iron Lady' star. Streep will then engage in a question and answer session with the audience. Her appearance is expected to raise more than $100,000.
The net proceeds from the talk will go towards the establishment of Meryl Streep Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Joan Hertzberg Endowed Scholarship (named after Streep's former classmate at Vassar College). While the former will assist brilliant UMass Lowell English majors to pay for their education, the latter is expected to support students excelling in math.
Celebrities have always been involved in causes that support academic and cultural diversity in Universities. With the two scholarships, Meryl Streep now joins the long list of stars, who have made significant contributions to the academic world.
Other prominent scholarships include the Alec Baldwin Drama Scholarship Fund, Camille and Bill Cosby Scholarship in Science, Earl Woods Scholarship and Dizzy Feet Foundation Scholarship.
Meryl Streep, a 1975 graduate of the Yale School of Drama, has been nominated for a record 18 Academy Awards in her acting career spanning more than five decades. This year, once again, she has been nominated, for her performance in 'August: Osage County' in the 86th Academy Awards.
Streep was part of several theatre productions before making a debut in her first feature film, Julia (1977).
Recollecting her acting school experience at the Ivy League School, Streep said:
"When I was there, from 1972 to 1975, it was a tiny program, and that was one of the great things about it. You were with directors and costume and scenic designers and you could see into the process of many aspects of theater... In those days it was purely a theater lab; the pressures of doing television and film were not yet present," AIFSM reports.
Meryl Streep's talk on Feb.5 is just the second event of the university's 'Chancellor's Speaker Series.' The series is co-sponsored by the university's English Department, Theatre Arts Program and College of Fine Arts. The first talk was given by prominent author Stephen King that raised about $100,000 for a scholarship fund dedicated for UMass Lowell students.
The University hopes on making the speaker series an annual event.
Tickets can be purchased through the Tsongas Center box office at www.tsongascenter.com.
