Scholarship 2010
John Austin Pena Memorial Scholarship
In 2004, the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals introduced the John Austin Pena Memorial Scholarship which was created to honor the memory of Pena, who at 16 lost his battle with addiction. John was the son of Texas State Representative Aaron Pena of Edinburgh, who before his son’s death was a prominent attorney in the Rio Grande Valley, but after suffering the devastating loss of John, and in his own personal quest for answers to this life changing situation, he moved away from the practice of law and into the arena of public policy.
His son’s death has been linked to the Mexican drug cartels, and Pena ran for office in 2002 on the platform of reforming drug laws, increased education around drug prevention and establishing more drug treatment for uninsured Texans. Pena is currently in his fifth term of office.
The John Austin Pena Scholarship is presented annually to a student in recovery who is pursing his or her college degree. The first award was given in 2005 to Daniel Katz, with subsequent recipients being James Davis, Rick Sabatini, Kyle Lawhon, Layne Liles and Clayton Goldberg. The 2010 recipients are Brenda Marsdan and Ginger Finigan.
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