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Katie Thoren, a junior Marquis Scholar and chemistry major from Hebron, Conn., has achieved national distinction as the recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship. Awarded for academic merit, the Goldwater is the premier undergraduate award of its type in the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering.
Lafayette is No. 1 among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges in the number of Goldwater Scholarships in the last four years, with nine. Lafayette students have received 11 Goldwaters in the last six years.
Thoren’s Goldwater award will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 next academic year. She’s the latest in a long list of recent Lafayette recipients of prestigious national and international scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate and post-graduate study. For information on applying for scholarships and fellowships, contact Julia A. Goldberg, assistant dean of studies, (610) 330-5521. See also the latest edition of Aristeia, which showcases the achievements and reflections of outstanding current and recent Lafayette students who represent the growing number of students at the College pursuing both academic excellence and engagement with civic life and social justice.
After graduating from Lafayette, Thoren would like to obtain a Ph.D. in biomedical research and then conduct research at a university hospital or pharmaceutical company with a focus on the science of human health. As an EXCEL Scholar, she has collaborated with Yvonne Gindt, assistant professor of chemistry, since the summer of 2003 on research involving the folding of proteins. She is a member of the crew team.
Established by Congress in 1986, the scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. This year 320 scholarships were awarded for the 2005-06 academic year to undergraduate sophomores and juniors from the United States. The Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,091 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.
“Goldwater Scholars have very impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs,” says Peggy Goldwater Clay, chair of the Goldwater Foundation. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 58 Rhodes Scholarships, 72 Marshall Awards (6 of the 40 awarded in the United States in 2005), and numerous other distinguished fellowships.
Last year two Lafayette students were awarded Goldwaters, Megan Coyer ’05(Slippery Rock, Pa.) a Marquis Scholar majoring in neuroscience, and LeAnn Dourte ’05(Lebanon, Pa.), a Marquis Scholar majoring in mechanical engineering. Ryan Waite ’05(Lebanon, Pa.), a Marquis Scholar majoring in mechanical engineering, received honorable mention.
In 2003 Lafayette was among only a dozen colleges and universities in the nation to have all four of its Goldwater nominees accepted. They were Alison Campbell ’04(West Chester, Pa.), a Trustee Scholarship recipient who went on to graduate with a B.S. in biochemistry (honors in chemistry); Gabriella Engelhart ’05(York, Pa.), a Marquis Scholar majoring in chemical engineering; Elizabeth Ponder ’04(Collegeville, Pa.), a Marquis Scholar who went on to earn two degrees, a B.S. in biochemistry (honors in chemistry) and an A.B. with an interdisciplinary, individualized major in cultural biomedicine; and Meghan Ramsey ’04 (originally Malvern, Pa., now Lakeville, Minn.), a Trustee Scholarship recipient who went on to graduate with a B.S. in neuroscience (with honors).
In 2002, two Lafayette students received Goldwaters, Daniel Ruddy ’03(Dunmore, Pa.), a Marquis Scholar who went on to graduate with honors in chemistry; and Alyssa Picchini ’04(York, Pa.), a Trustee Scholarship recipient majoring in neuroscience.
In 2001, Lafayette’s recipient was Marquis Scholar Daniel Swarr ’03(Clifton Park, N.Y.), who went on to graduate with a B.S. in physics and A.B. in mathematics.
In 2000, Matthew Patton ’02(Los Alamos, N.Mex.), received the scholarship, going on to graduate with honors in computer science, a perfect 4.0 grade point average, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa, among other honors.