Apr 15, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

Four Harvey Mudd College seniors—Anna Cunningham, Ryan Muller, Jennifer Rinker and Kanny Wan—were awarded prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, which recognize outstanding students pursuing advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Ten recent HMC graduates also received NSF fellowships. Two seniors and 10 alumni received honorable mention.

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

Cunningham plans to study biochemistry at MIT, Muller will study human-computer interaction at Carnegie-Mellon University, Rinker will study civil engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and Wan will study organic chemistry at Scripps Research Institute.

The following alumni were also fellowship recipients:

HMC seniors Matthew Keeter (computer/IS/engineering and artificial Intelligence, MIT) and Hong Sio (physics and astronomy, UCLA) 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 2011 competition were the following alumni:

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.