Three University of Colorado at Boulder students have been named 2009 Goldwater Scholars, the premier national undergraduate award recognizing outstanding students in math, science and engineering.
The three students are Julia Goodrich, a junior majoring in computer science; Anna Lieb, a sophomore majoring in applied mathematics; and Robert Rogers, a sophomore in chemical and biological engineering. Each will receive up to $7,500 for their educational expenses during the 2009-10 academic year.
"It's really quite an honor," said Deborah Viles, CU's Top Scholarship program adviser. "These are prestigious scholarships and it's unusual for a single university to win three in the same year. It speaks to the quality of the students and the quality of the programs from which they come."
The Goldwater Scholarship Program is a national competition for undergraduates in the fields of mathematics, science and engineering. The 278 Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,097 students nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities across the nation. Of the scholars, 163 are men, 115 are women and virtually all intend to obtain a doctorate.
Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 73 Rhodes Scholarships, 102 Marshall Awards and numerous other distinguished post-graduate fellowships.
Goodrich, a Boulder resident since she was 8, said she plans to pursue a doctorate in biological sciences with an emphasis in genomics. She hopes to conduct research in computational and experimental biology.
Lieb, from Golden, plans to work toward a doctorate in applied mathematics with the goal of conducting research in modeling problems in ecology and systems biology.
Rogers, a native of Cedar Hill, Texas, said he will seek an M.D./Ph.D. in chemical engineering after graduation. He plans to research how tissue engineering can be applied to modern medicine.
Since 1999, 20 CU students have the received awards.
The Goldwater Scholarship Program was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. It is a federally endowed agency established by Congress in 1986 to encourage and assist outstanding students pursuing careers in math, natural science and engineering. The program honors the late Sen. Barry Goldwater who served the United States for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate.