Four UGA students receive prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships
WRITER: Kim Cretors, (706) 542-6927, kcretors@uga.edu
CONTACT: Jere Morehead, (706) 542-1651, morehead@uga.edu
Apr 6, 2001, 16:35

ATHENS, Ga. — All four students at the University of Georgia competing for prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarships have been successful in their efforts. This is the second time in the last five years that all UGA candidates were awarded the scholarships. This year’s Goldwater scholars from UGA are Beth Orcutt, Paul Pollack, Steven Smith and Lakshmi Swamy.

“The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is one of the most prestigious awards available to undergraduate math and science majors. I am thrilled that all four of the students that UGA nominated this year were chosen as Barry Goldwater scholars,” said Karl Espelie, professor of biological sciences and entomology and faculty coordinator for the Goldwater scholarship committee. “Each of the four students is outstanding in their respective area of study. I am certain that after they graduate from the university, these young men and women will go on to excel in graduate school and that, in the future, they will make important contributions in their chosen areas of research.”

“The accomplishments of these four students bring great credit to the University of Georgia and its growing national academic reputation. I am very proud of them,” said Jere Morehead, associate provost and director of the Honors and Foundation Fellows Program.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program was created to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering and to foster excellence in those fields. Four-year institutions can nominate up to four students who are sophomores or juniors. Approximately 300 scholarships are awarded each year. Each scholarship covers eligible expenses for tuition, fees, books and room and board, up to $7,500 annually. The program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to honor Barry M. Goldwater, who served for 30 years in the U.S. Senate.

“In the past few years universities around the country have increased their efforts to garner national awards, and the fact that all four of our candidates were selected for this prestigious scholarship is a tribute to the truly excellent education that our students receive here at the University of Georgia,” said Else Jorgensen, educational programs and scholarship coordinator for UGA’s Honors Program.

This year’s Goldwater scholars from UGA are:

• Beth Orcutt is a junior from Athens in the UGA College of Arts and Science. She is an interdisciplinary studies major (marine science/chemistry) and has a 3.96 GPA. Her career goals include earning a Ph.D. in aquatic biogeochemistry and she would like to conduct aquatic biogeochemical research, particularly in the fields of extreme environments and biologically mediated nutrient cycling.

• Paul Pollack of New Port Richey, Fl., is a sophomore in the UGA Honors Program. His major is mathematics and he has a 4.0 GPA. He is working toward a Ph.D. in Number Theory, and he plans to research easily stated problems in the theory of numbers.

• Steven Smith, from Wadmalaw Island, S.C., is a junior in the UGA Honors Program and a Foundation Fellow. His majors are biology and genetics with a minor in French. He has a 3.95 GPA. He hopes to earn an M.D./Ph.D. in molecular genetics and wants to conduct basic scientific research in human disease.

• Lakshmi Swamy of Milledgeville is a junior in the UGA Honors Program and a Foundation Fellow. Her majors are computer science and microbiology. She has a 4.0 GPA. Her career goals are an M.D./Ph.D. in applied bioinformatics in infectious disease; she plans to apply computational methods to develop new technologies for infectious disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

The Honors Program at UGA provides the institutions’s top students with special classes, individualized attention, opportunities for independent research and close contact with faculty and combines the depth of a liberal arts college with the breadth of a major research university.

The Foundation Fellows Program was established in 1972 by trustees of the University of Georgia Foundation to create an enhanced educational experience for superior undergraduate students.