- The SanDisk Foundation Continues its Mission to Help Disadvantaged Students Achieve A College Degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math Related Fields -

(BLACK PR WIRE)--MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced its “SanDisk Scholars” for 2012. Twenty nine students from sixteen states will receive scholarships of up to $10,000 each over four years to achieve undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
 
Scholarships were granted based on factors including past academic achievements, amount of community service performed and present financial need. The SanDisk Scholars Program is part of the SanDisk Foundation, which has committed $1 million in annual scholarships to assist economically disadvantaged and under-represented students, such as women, Latinos and African-Americans, pursue and complete college level studies in STEM-related fields.

Of the $1 million committed for this year, approximately 30 percent is being awarded to twenty nine SanDisk scholars; another 50 percent is designated to students attending one of the following five U.S. universities: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles and University of Texas-Austin. In addition, 20 percent is designated for STEM-related graduate research grants.

“The goal of the SanDisk Scholars Program is to encourage and inspire deserving students to pursue and complete STEM-related studies,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO of SanDisk. “We are very pleased to provide this support at the early stage of their college career, and we wish them many years of academic and professional success as they pursue a future in STEM-related fields.”

The SanDisk Scholars Program is funded by the SanDisk Foundation, a corporate-advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation that provides philanthropic support to charitable organizations worldwide. The program helps talented and qualified students obtain university degrees in STEM-related fields, which ultimately increases the overall competitiveness of the U.S. technology industry.

Partners in the Selection Process

The SanDisk Foundation partnered with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, International Scholarship and Tuition Services (ISTS), the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to identify and select students who fit the SanDisk Scholar Fund’s applicant profile, process applications, award scholarships and provide support services to scholarship recipients.

SanDisk Foundation

SanDisk supports a variety of programs and charitable organizations through its philanthropic arm, the SanDisk Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Since 2003, the SanDisk Foundation has awarded more than 650 grants totaling $12 million to charitable organizations and programs worldwide.

About SanDisk

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) is a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, from research and development, product design and manufacturing to branding and distribution for OEM and retail channels. Since 1988, SanDisk's innovations in flash memory and storage system technologies have provided customers with new and transformational digital experiences. SanDisk's diverse product portfolio includes flash memory cards and embedded solutions used in smart phones, tablets, digital cameras, camcorders, digital media players and other consumer electronic devices, as well as USB flash drives and solid-state drives (SSD) for the computing market. SanDisk's products are used by consumers and enterprise customers around the world.

SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company, with more than half its sales outside the United States. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com.  

© 2012 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s).

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50321407&lang=en