Maja Pederson Receives PEO Scholarship

Maja Pedersen is one of 150 doctoral students in the U. S. and Canada selected to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. The P.E.O. Scholar Awards (PSA) were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. Scholar Awards recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their potential for having a positive impact on society.

Pedersen is a Public Health PhD candidate in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences. Her dissertation research is a community-based participatory research project that addresses health disparities in chronic disease and disability through promoting routine physical activity among American Indian and Alaska Native older adults living in rural communities.

Pedersen is from Fairbanks, Alaska. She attended Pacific Lutheran University for her undergraduate studies, receiving a B.S. in Health and Fitness Management and a B.A. in Scandinavian Studies. Following her undergraduate studies, she completed a Fulbright Research Scholarship to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, where she pursued research on cultural influences on health behavior and chronic disease risk. She received an M.S. in Health and Human Performance with a focus on Community Health from the University of Montana, and is currently a Public Health PhD candidate in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences.