Apr 06, 2012 - Claremont, Calif. -

Three Harvey Mudd College seniors—Julien Devin, Katherine Lownsbery and Steve Matsumoto—were awarded prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, which recognize outstanding students pursuing advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Five recent HMC graduates also received NSF fellowships. Two seniors and six alumni received honorable mention.

The fellowship award includes a three-year annual $30,000 stipend, $10,500 for tuition and fees (expected to rise to $12,000 for 2012 fellows), international research opportunities, and the freedom for fellows to conduct their own research at an accredited U.S. institution of their choosing.

Devin plans to study atomic, molecular and optical physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Lownsbery will study civil engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Matsumoto will study computer and information security at Carnegie Mellon University.

The following alumni were also fellowship recipients:

Alumni	Research Area of Study	Graduate School
Ben Fogelson ’09	Mathematical Biology	UC Davis
Gordon Hoople ’08	Mechanical Engineering	UC Berkeley
Katherine Near ’10	Chemistry of Life Processes	Stanford University
Zara Seibel ’11	Chemical Synthesis	Columbia University
Ethan Sokol ’10	Developmental Biology	MIT

 

HMC seniors Kali Lynn Allison (geophysics, Stanford University) and Louis Ryan (applied mathematics, Princeton University) earned Honorable Mention. For meritorious applicants who do not receive fellowship awards, the NSF awards Honorable Mention, considered a significant academic achievement nationwide.

Also receiving Honorable Mention in the 2012 competition were the following alumni:

Alumni	Research Area of Study	Graduate School
Bob Chen ’10	Algebra/Number Theory/Combinatorics	UC San Diego
Andrew Chung ’10	Biochemistry	Stanford University
Masanori Honda ’10	Mechanical Engineering	University of Minnesota
Jenna Ryon ’10	Astronomy/Astrophysics	University of Wisconsin
Hong Sio ’11	Plasma Physics	MIT
Matthew Streshinsky ’11	Electrical and Electronic Engineering	University of Washington

 

The GRFP helps ensure the vitality of the nation’s human resource base of science and engineering candidates and reinforces its diversity. Awardees are seen as crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well being of society at large.

Program participants are expected to become experts who contribute significantly to research, education and innovation in the STEM fields. Past fellows include Google founder Sergev Brin, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and numerous Nobel Prize winners.

In this decade, HMC students won more NSF fellowships than any other liberal arts college in the nation. HMC faculty has received more NSF funding in the past 10 years than any other top-20 liberal arts college.

 

Media Contact: Judy Augsburger
judy_augsburger@hmc.edu
909.607.0713