UW Math Majors Win Big Awards

Last year, UW Math majors won several prestigious awards. Eliana Hechter won a Rhodes Scholarship and the Dean's Medal in the Natural Sciences; see page 4 for more about her accomplishments.

Nick Reichert won an Astronaut Foundation Scholarship. There were only 18 of these awarded last year, and Nick was the first Math major from the UW to win (most previous winners were in fields like aeronautics and astronautics, astronomy, or astrophysics). The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was established by U.S. astronauts, and its goal is to encourage "leadership in science and technology by providing scholarships for college students who exhibit motivation, imagination, and exceptional performance in ... science or engineering."

Owen Biesel and Jeff Eaton won Goldwater Scholarships, out of 32 awarded nationally to mathematics majors last year. As a result the Department was home last year to five UW students who won this prestigious award in the last three years: Owen and Jeff join Anna Schneider (2005), Noah Giansiracusa (2004), and Eliana Hechter (2004) as recent awardees. The Goldwater Scholarship program was established by Congress to commemorate Barry Goldwater, and its purpose is "to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields."

Wes Essig and Justin Vincent won Math in Moscow Scholarship Awards from the American Mathematical Society, following in the footsteps of Noah Giansiracusa, who won last year. This scholarship helps to fund their participation in the Math in Moscow program, in which they study mathematics at the Independent University of Moscow, an institution specializing in research mathematics.