The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 in honor of the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is awarded to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. From an estimated pool of over 5,000 college sophomores and juniors, 1242 natural science, engineering and mathematics students were nominated by 433 academic institutions to compete for the 2022 Goldwater scholarships. Among them, 417 college students from across the United States were awarded a Goldwater scholarship.  Forty-five Scholars are mathematics and computer science majors, 308 are majoring in the natural sciences, and 64 are majoring in engineering. Many of the Scholars have published their research in leading professional journals and have presented their work at professional society conferences.

Congratulations to Kirsten Fisher and Amanda Manea for winning this prestigious award! Kirsten, a junior biochemistry and molecular biology major, intends to pursue a PhD in plant molecular biology and is currently conducting research on plant communication in the Stratmann lab. Amanda, a South Carolina Honors College junior mathematics and biological sciences double-major, wants to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, clinical residency, and postdoctoral fellowship to become a senior investigator at an academic medical center and develop machine learning methods for oncology. Congrats!