News

The ARCS® Foundation Metro Washington Chapter (ARCS MWC) hosted the 2026 Eagle Award Celebration, attended by members of ARCS MWC and other ARCS chapters, and by donors, Scholars, Scholar Alums, and guests, on May 1 at The Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC.

The Honorable Deborah Wince-Smith, Founder and CEO of the eminent Council on Competitiveness (Council) and an ARCS MWC member, received the chapter's prestigious Eagle Award in recognition of “her extraordinary leadership in the advancement of American science, technology, medical research, and engineering.” In her inspiring remarks, she enthusiastically stated, “To the ARCS Foundation Metro Washington Chapter—Thank you! For your commitment to science, for your investment in people, and for understanding that national strength begins with human talent. We do not inherit the future; we build it! And we will only build it if we invest in the people capable of carrying it forward.”  

Wince-Smith has championed ARCS Foundation at both the chapter and National levels over many years. ARCS Foundation has 15 chapters throughout the country and partners with 53 institutions of higher education. 

As an MWC member, she has steadily supported Scholars at the chapter’s five local partner universities. She bridged the chapter and National levels as the keynote speaker at the national All Members Conference, hosted by ARCS MWC in April 2018. 

Wince-Smith and the Council have also significantly influenced efforts at ARCS National to strategically renew and expand the organization’s reach as federal research funding has declined. She and the Council have made significant research contributions that shaped the new ARCS National Scholar Awards Program that will be separate from but will complement the chapters’ philanthropic funding.

In her remarks during the event, after noting the transformative nature of the Council’s work with ARCS National, President Jill Bray said, “We followed the lead of the Council and its National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, conceived by Deborah Wince-Smith, when we decided to focus our national Scholar research funding in high priority technologies essential to our country’s competitiveness, such as biotechnology, quantum, and microelectronics. From reviewing the Council’s reports and attending their Competitiveness Conversations, we have had access to research on the state of the US innovation landscape that has been incredibly helpful to us in guiding our forward thinking.” Bray concluded by saying: “It is Deborah’s leadership and drive that fuels the work of us all.”

Other highlights of the evening included remarks from current ARCS MWC Scholars; and from ARCS MWC Scholar Alum Dr. Peter McDonnell, Director of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University and an ARCS MWC Scholar in 1982. McDonnell was also the ARCS Alumni Hall of Fame inductee in 2019 for inventions and medical advances in ophthalmology that have improved sight for patients worldwide. As McDonnell noted, “Investing in people at the beginning of their research careers will have great impact going forward. This is more impactful than recognition at the end of a career.”

About ARCS Foundation  

ARCS® (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation is a national, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization started in 1958 and run entirely by women who boost American leadership and aid advancement in science and technology by offering financial awards to academically outstanding U.S. citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering, and medical research. ARCS MWC has provided over $8 million in unrestricted funding since 1968 to about 500 graduate and undergraduate STEM students at our five local partner universities: Georgetown University, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Virginia. For more information about ARCS and/or the National Scholar Awards program, please click here to send an email to the National President.