Five University of South Carolina students have been named recipients of the Goldwater Scholarship, according to a March 27 announcement. This marks the university’s 34th consecutive year with at least one Goldwater Scholar and sets a new institutional record for most scholars in a single year.
The Goldwater Scholarship is awarded to undergraduate students pursuing research careers in natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. More than 400 higher education institutions nominate students annually for the $7,500 award. This year, there were 1,485 nominees from 482 institutions and a total of 452 scholarships were granted.
The recipients from USC are Khufu Holly Jr., Hannah Keen, Ria Kothari, Ansley Martin, and Reagan Stanton. Four are South Carolina Honors College students while one is a Capstone Scholar. Melissa Moss, chair of USC’s Goldwater committee, said: “These Goldwater Scholars have done amazing things. It was a pleasure to work with each of them during the application process, and now I am excited to see where they take their future research careers.”
Each scholar has pursued significant research projects in their fields ranging from biomedical engineering to physics and neuroscience. For example, Holly is involved in studying blood vessel injuries resulting from hypertension; Keen focuses on environmental chemistry; Kothari researches antimicrobial peptide polymers; Martin works on neuroimaging studies related to aging brains; Stanton investigates magnetic fields in dwarf galaxies.
Students interested in applying for national fellowships or scholarships at USC work closely with faculty members across various disciplines. The current year’s faculty committee was chaired by Moss and included professors representing engineering and computing as well as other science departments.
Looking ahead, the university encourages more students to consider applying for national awards like the Goldwater Scholarship through its National Fellowships and Scholar Programs.