Brian Andrew Morden was an amazing young man. He was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a bone cancer, at the age of 16, and began his first of more than 100 chemotherapy treatments on his seventeenth birthday, January 10, 2001. He fought this horrendous disease for more than 2 years, and what his friends remember most about him was that he rarely, if ever, complained about his misfortune and that he shared his love, gentleness, and kindness with those he met. Brian loved computers, particularly playing Bungie games such as Myth and then Halo on the Xbox, chatting with friends, and experimenting with applications like Photoshop. Brian was fortunate to take a Make-A-Wish trip to Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, where he not only met the creators of the Bungie games, but also had a chance to play Halo with them even before it was released to the public. During this trip Brian was asked to add his voice to the Halo game, so Brian’s voice is now immortalized on Halo. Brian was also a very talented musician who often let others take the solos. He delighted in hitting the very high notes on his trumpet and loved playing in the stands at football games and in the jazz band. John Coltrane and Miles Davis were two of his favorite composers and performers. Brian loved to read, especially fantasy, especially Tolkien, whom he started reading in elementary school long before the Peter Jackson movies revived an interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Brian believed there was no better writer than Tolkien. Brian also loved movies – many of the great classics such as Lawrence of Arabia and The Godfather. He was thrilled when Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings. Luckily, he was able to see the first two movies from the trilogy. Brian was accepted at Penn State University Park to study video and filmmaking. He was unable to attend due to his cancer. The Brian Morden Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to young men and women who have a fascination with technology and a love of music, and have completed all parts of this application. The maximum award for an individual scholarship is $1000. Applicants should be US citizens and a high school graduate as of the summer of 2008. Their higher education course of study should include either music, some aspect of technology, or medicine. They should possess qualities of what was best about Brian – a gentle person who shared his love and kindness with those he met. Applications should
be postmarked or emailed by March 20, 2008. If you have difficulty
with the pdf format, please email us at the Foundation.
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