University garners its 8th and 9th Goldwater award in eight years…
University garners its 8th and 9th Goldwater award in eight years…
TWO MSUM STUDENTS AMONG 278 IN NATION AWARDED GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIPS
Two MSU Moorhead students are among 278 students from across the nation selected to receive a $7,500 award from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
Heather Cegla, a junior from Dilworth, and Morgan Elfelt, a junior from Andover, each will receive the scholarship, which covers tuition, fees, books, room and board up to $7,500 for each of the next two years.
The two were selected from a field of 1,110 mathematics, science and engineering scholars who were nominated by faculty members from colleges and universities throughout the country.
Cegla and Elfelt are the eighth and ninth MSUM students in the past eight years to receive a Goldwater Scholarship.
The scholarship program honoring Sen. Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. It is the premier undergraduate scholarship in these fields.
Cegla graduated from Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School in 2006 and is the daughter of Ron and Mary Cegla. She’s an honors student and a physics major with an emphasis in astronomy an
d a minor in mathematics.
This semester she’s studying astrophysics and doing research on exoplanets at Keele University in England. This summer she’ll work as a research assistant at Vanderbilt University, her third experience with the Research Experience for Undergraduates program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Her first two were at the University of North Dakota and the University of Hawaii. After graduating from MSUM, Cegla intends to pursue a doctorate in astrophysics.
Elfelt graduated from Anoka High School in 2006 and is the daughter of Larry and Corinne Elfelt. An honors student at MSUM, who also has a music scholarship, she’s been pursuing painted turtle research with MSUM Prof. Donna Stockrahm and intends to pursue an advanced degree in biosciences when she graduates next year.
The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.
In its 21-year history, the Foundation has awarded 5,801 scholarships worth approximately $56 million. The Trustees plan to award about three hundred scholarships for the 2010–2011 academic year.