A Germantown dad was one of five Montgomery College students to receive a scholarship from the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, the chamber announced Monday.

Rich Erickson was awarded $5,000 during the chamber’s annual Celebration Dinner & Awards Ceremony. The chamber also awarded four $2,500 scholarships to students who lived Upcounty.

Erickson, who is studying electrical engineering, lives in Germantown with his wife and 1-year-old son. He decided to enroll at Montgomery College after loosing his job, according to the chamber.

Erickson has a 3.9 GPA and plans to complete a bachelors of science degree at University of Maryland College Park.

The $2,5000 scholarship recipients were:

• Emmanuel Dimitri Foko Tito, biomedical engineering major from Gaithersburg
• Edem Bamezon, an electrical engineering major from Boyds
• Greg Friedman, a computer science major from Gaithersburg
• Ryan Felix, a chemical engineering major from Germantown

The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce contributed a total of $34,700 to the Montgomery College Scholarship Foundation. The chamber’s scholarship committee is led by Hughes Network Systems assistant vice president Jim Muir, the chamber’s former board chairman.