By: Elise Phillips Margulis

College tuition is exorbitant these days and scholarships can be difficult to obtain. Karen Quillay, a senior at Morristown High School, is the deserving and fortunate 2019 recipient of the Judy and Eliot Steinberg Scholarship which will pay for all four years of her tuition at The College of New Jersey.

The Judy and Eliot Steinberg Scholarship was established by their children to honor them. The scholarship fund consists of $1 million to pay for the college education of 10 or more Morristown High School students. Karen is the third student awarded the scholarship. She was selected from 16 seniors who applied for it.

The first two recipients, Angelina Bennett and Karla Escobar, received the scholarship last year. Although Judy Steinberg passed away in 2009, Eliot was present when the recipients were announced. Unfortunately, he passed away a month or so later.

Eliot was a chemist for Warner Lambert and also served as the President of the Morris County school board in the 1960s. Judy was an educator at Morristown’s Temple B’nai Or and established its Shalom Club for seniors.

The Steinberg sons are Morristown High School Alumni: Julian (’73) was the CEO of a chemical business. Andy (’69) owns a computer business. Robert (’69) is a retired anesthesiologist. They established the scholarship because their parents funded their college educations and they wanted to give other people the gift of paid college tuition.

This extremely generous scholarship is truly life changing. Removing the burden of paying for four years of college is an enormous emotional and financial relief. Karen will be studying Biology at The College of New Jersey. She doesn’t have to worry about paying off student loans for decades. Her parents won’t have to borrow money to help her, either.

Mark Manning, Morristown High School Principal, is thrilled about Karen receiving Steinberg’s scholarship. “I could not be more proud to be a member of the Morris School District community — a community that puts the needs of its students above everything else. I am so happy for Karen and her family that they have been awarded this incredible opportunity. I want to extend our deepest appreciation to the Steinberg family for their amazing generosity and to the Morris Education Foundation for helping to make this possible.”

The Morris Educational Foundation’s Steinberg Scholarship Committee and the Steinberg’s choose the winner of the scholarship together. To qualify for the scholarship students must be planning to study STEM, business, education or medicine. Scholastic achievement and community involvement are factored into the selection of the recipient. The student must also be in need of financial assistance. The student has to attend a New Jersey college.

Debbie Sontupe, Executive Director of Morris Educational Foundation, said, “It is an honor to administer the Judy and Eliot Steinberg Scholarship, a life-changing opportunity for Morristown High School seniors, on behalf of the Steinberg family in memory of their parents, champions of the Morris School District. The generosity and kindness by this wonderful alumni family is truly inspiring.”