The Santa Barbara High School Alumni Association will award 32 $1,000 scholarships to SBHS seniors on May 17 at the annual barbecue at Lower Manning Park.

The Alumni Association was founded in 1975 to celebrate the centennial year of “The High School.”  That year, two $100 scholarships were awarded. Since then, alumni from around the globe donate annually to help fellow Dons continue their education in college.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award will be awarded to Harry Cook of the class of 1953, whose adventures have earned him an Indiana Jones reputation. Cook is an alumnus of UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley, where he earned his Ph.D. in geology. His geology research and expeditions have led him around the world. His focus is on developing petroleum and gold exploration models. One of his models was utilized in Kazakhstan to find the world’s third-largest oil field. Cook has lectured for 35 years and has written more than 150 publications and books.

Social hour will be at noon, lunch at 1 p.m. with the award ceremony to follow. Tickets may be purchased by calling 805.966.9101 or 805.687.9957.

Gloria Cavallero is a Santa Barbara High School Alumni Association board member.