Fifty–one UChicago students, alumni join ranks of NSF graduate fellows

The National Science Foundation has awarded graduate fellowships to 51 recently graduated, current or incoming University of Chicago students.

Two thousand students nationwide received the fellowships, which support outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the United States and abroad.

"This is an extraordinarily tough competition for both the fellowships and the honorable mentions," said Donald H. Levy, Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories. "I am very pleased with the strong showing by our students. It speaks well of the quality of students we attract as well as their career prospects."

NSF graduate fellows receive three years of support, including a $30,000 annual stipend, a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance and a $1,000, one-time international travel allowance. This support exceeds the amounts that the University's graduate divisions typically provide for assistantships.

The fellowships also free students to pursue what NSF refers to as "broader impact" projects.

"These fellowships give the students great flexibility in pursuing research problems of their choice, while allowing them to develop the broader impacts of their work," said Fred Stafford of the Office of Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories, who helped mentor some of the student applicants. "For instance, they can extend their teaching experience to working with undergraduates, high-school students, members of the general public or under-represented minority groups. They gain important experience in communicating science to a broad audience; people who are not their peers," said Stafford.

Over previous years, the NSF gradually increased the number of fellowships it awards annually, with a more dramatic 60 percent spike this year, said Meghan Hammond, Assistant Director of UChicago's Graduate Student Affairs and Coordinating Official for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program at the University.The NSF plans to increase the number of fellowships to 3,000 over the next three years, a boost made possible by stimulus funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Last year, UChicago's Graduate Student Affairs Office received a three-year, $2 million ARRA grant for NSF graduate fellowships.

"This program was created as part of the space race five decades ago," President Barack Obama remarked at the National Academy of Sciences annual meeting in April 2009. "In the decades since, it's remained largely the same size-even as the number of students who seek these fellowships has skyrocketed. We ought to be supporting these young people who are pursuing scientific careers, not putting obstacles in their path."

UChicago graduate students who have received 2010 NSF graduate fellowships:

  • Joseph Briguglio, molecular genetics and cell biology
  • Hannah Chazin, archaeology
  • Jasmine DeJesus, developmental psychology
  • Kacy Gordon, evolution of gene regulation
  • Dugan Hayes, physical chemistry
  • Marie Hoerner, geochemistry
  • Sanja Jagesic, sociology
  • Kristen Jenkins, paleoclimate
  • Emily King, paleontology
  • Colin Kyle, ecology
  • Justin Lemberg, paleontology
  • David Lerner, cell biology
  • Alysson Light, social psychology
  • Alice MacQueen, evolutionary biology
  • Sophie McCoy, ecosystem ecology
  • Laura Merwin, ecology
  • Erin Moore, cultural anthropology, Human Development
  • Stephanie Mui, developmental biology
  • Benjamin Rubin, evolutionary biology
  • Thomas Stewart, evolutionary biology
  • Nora Tramm, neurosciences, Physics
  • Nicole Tuttle, bio-organic chemistry
  • Robin Walters, algebra or number theory
  • Jessica Wilks, microbiology

UChicago alumni who have received 2010 NSF graduate fellowships:

  • Katherine Ames, neurosciences
  • Michael Bishof, atomic and molecular physics and astronomy
  • Carl Brozek, inorganic chemistry
  • Dana Chandler, economics
  • Ross Doppelt, economics
  • Carl Gershenson, sociology
  • Seth Hillbrand, physics and astronomy.
  • Sean Johnson, astrophysics
  • Benjamin Parker, evolutionary biology
  • Obie Porteous, Berkeley, economics
  • Elizabeth Sefton, developmental biology
  • Margaret Siple, marine biology
  • Vivek Venkataraman, physical anthropology
  • Amy Winans, cell biology
  • Melissa Yeung, geometry
  • Michelle Yen, cell biology

Students graduating from other institutions who will use their 2010 NSF graduate fellowships at UChicago:

  • Joshua Cannon, University of Pittsburgh, archaeology, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
  • Max Engelstein, Yale, geometry
  • Sarah Gordon, Duke University, economics
  • Sara Jackrel, College of New Jersey, ecology
  • Yao Lu, Harvard, economics, Chicago Booth
  • Lee McCuller, University of Texas at Austin, accelerator physics
  • Juliana Schroeder, University of Virginia, social psychology, Chicago Booth
  • Bradley Setzler, economics
  • Timothy Sosa, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, evolutionary biology
  • Bryce van de Geijn, University of Texas at Austin, computational biology
  • John Wilmes, Reed College, graph theory