First Cora Martinson award recipient has his sights set on medicine

Daimen Asp (Photo: Sydney Tancowny)

At 19, Daimen Asp is pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor. His journey began in high school, sacrificing many social activities to achieve excellent grades and then by maintaining that pace during first-year biology studies at the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus.

But discipline and hard work can’t change the financial realities of being a university student.

Asp was one of two recipients of the Cora Martinson entrance scholarships at Augustana, which were awarded for the first time during the 2024-25 academic year. Funded through the Shape the Future campaign — the U of A’s initiative to enhance financial support for access and affordability, experiential learning, and student spaces — the scholarship is part of a historic $2-million gift, the largest in Augustana’s history. 

Created by a group of anonymous alumni to honour the transformative impact of former dean of women Cora Martinson, it reflects the campaign’s commitment to ensuring students like Asp have the financial backing to focus on their studies, explore new ideas and pursue their purpose. By easing financial burdens, donor-funded scholarships like this one empower students to dedicate themselves more fully to academic and personal growth — conducting research, developing new skills and engaging in their communities.

Asp sometimes spends up to eight hours per day studying for a course load of psychology, Indigenous studies, biology and chemistry. He spends as much as seven hours a day in classes and labs. 

“I felt a lot more reassured,” says Asp of the scholarship that renews each year, contingent on achieving a minimum GPA. “I had financial backing and could focus more on studies.”

In the early 1930s, Martinson was the dean of women and a teacher at Camrose Lutheran College, which would eventually become the Augustana Campus at the University of Alberta. 

She hailed from Minneapolis, Minn., but her parents were Lutheran missionaries who had raised her in east-central China from the age of six months. There, she witnessed dire poverty, death and danger from bandits. It was also where she was first inspired to assist others.

After graduating from a college in the United States, she taught in Minnesota for five years, then moved to Alberta and Camrose Lutheran for another three. In 1937, Martinson returned to China as a missionary, experiencing bombings and atrocities during the Japanese invasion of China, risking her life to hide girls and women. After Pearl Harbor she fled to the U.S., but returned to China post-war and devoted 25 years to helping Chinese people pursue an education, including young women who had been unable to attend school previously.

For decades, she also encouraged international students to study in Camrose and experience the benefits of its thriving but comfortable campus. In 1974, Martinson retired to St. Paul, Alta., where she tutored Chinese immigrants. Undoubtedly, she enhanced innumerable lives.

To celebrate Martinson’s confidence in Augustana’s campus and her beliefs in the benefits of educating people everywhere, the two annual entrance awards in her name assist a domestic and international student. 

The Cora Martinson Scholarship is just one example of how donor support through the Shape the Future campaign empowers students to excel. Scholarships, awards and bursaries not only relieve financial pressure but also allow students to explore their passions, join research initiatives, participate in clubs and teams, or volunteer for causes that benefit their communities.

For Asp, the scholarship brings him one step closer to his goal of specializing in radiology – ideally serving rural communities in Alberta so that he can give back to the places that shaped him.

As someone who has been enamoured of science since childhood, “I want to apply what I learn in a clinical setting,” he says. “I think it would make a bigger impact, and I would be able to visibly see the impact on the patients.”

With support from donors, students like Asp can continue shaping the future—both in their own communities and beyond. To learn more about how you can support the next generation, visit Shape the Future today.