CANTON -- Kathryn Barrett of Madrid recently received the 2016 AAUW Scholarship at the county branch’s annual meeting, held at TAUNY in Canton.

Barrett recently graduated from SUNY Canton and is going on for a four-year degree in the veterinary program.

Her long-term career goal is to become a veterinarian.

In addition to a cash award of $600, Barrett received a membership in AAUW as part of her scholarship presentation.

The AAUW Scholarship is given in memory of Birgit “Biggie” Weaver, a long-time member of the St. Lawrence County branch.

Weaver was born in Vasa, Finland in 1924. She was a “citizen of the world,” according to an AAUW press release.

She married Charles T. Weaver in Wembo Nyama, Congo in 1953. They were Methodist missionaries in nursing and education who met in what was then the Belgian Congo.

Later they both attended graduate school in their chosen fields.

She was a nurse for SUNY Potsdam and later worked in public health nursing for St. Lawrence County. She later obtained her master’s in nursing.

She sometimes guest lectured on multi-cultural perspectives in nursing at local colleges.

Membership in the St. Lawrence County branch, founded in 1927, is open to anyone who supports the mission of AAUW, advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.

AAUW is a nationwide network of more than 150,000 members and supporters, with more than 1,000 branches conducting programs in communities across the country and 869 college and university partners (including all four local colleges).

For more information about AAUW in St. Lawrence County, contact President Betty Connolly at Connolly@canton.edu or Public Policy Chair Kathleen Stein at 386-3812, kstein1@twcny.rr.com, or visit the branch website, http://stlawrence.aauw-nys.org/.