Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia Honors students Catherine “Cali” Callaway and Morrison Nolan have received 2016 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, a premier academic award for undergraduate students pursuing careers in science, mathematics and engineering.
The scholarship, which awards up to $7,500 toward the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board, recognizes exceptional sophomores and juniors across the nation. Since 1995, 51 UGA students have received the award.
“Our students’ continued success in the Goldwater competition speaks volumes about the quality of education that UGA provides in the STEM disciplines,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “Cali and Morrison represent the broad range of scientific interests that students can pursue at UGA, and their achievement demonstrates the value of intensive research experiences at the undergraduate level.”
Both students are recipients of the Foundation Fellowship, UGA’s premier undergraduate scholarship program through the Honors Program. Both are pursuing degrees from UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
Callaway, a junior from Johns Creek, is majoring in biology with a concentration in neuroscience and pursuing a combined master’s degree in artificial intelligence. She aims to earn a doctorate and a medical degree and to pursue a career conducting research in regenerative bioscience. Callaway has spent extensive time in a laboratory through UGA’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, working with Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Steven Stice, director of the UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center, as well as during an intensive summer research experience at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. Callaway also interned at Hocoma AG, the world’s largest producer of robotic rehabilitation devices located in Zurich, Switzerland, and at the Shepherd Spinal Center’s Spinal Cord Injury Lab in Atlanta.
Callaway serves as president of UGA Mathcounts, a student organization that mentors middle school students in math skills, and vice president of the Blue Key Honor Society, among other activities.
Nolan, a junior from Stone Mountain, is pursuing degrees in geology and chemistry. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in invertebrate paleontology on a path to a career teaching and researching as a professor or museum curator. He also has pursued research through CURO, studying alongside Sally Walker, a professor of geology and marine sciences. In addition, he participated in paleontology field studies of Cretaceous deposits in Hell Creek, Montana, through the University of Washington’s paleontological field methods course and interned at a fiber optic company through the Technology Association of Georgia.
Nolan co-founded UGA’s Science Olympiad Outreach club and is secretary of the UGA Geology Club, a student affiliate of the American Chemical Society and a member of the Geological Society of America and the Georgia Mineral Society.
In addition to UGA’s two Goldwater Scholarship recipients, two students—Aneek James and Hannah Mason—were given honorable mentions.
James, a junior from Stone Mountain, is majoring in electrical and electronics engineering in the College of Engineering. He plans to pursue a doctorate and become a researcher in the field of microwave photonics.
Mason, a junior from Peachtree City, is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology as well as in Spanish in the Franklin College and plans to pursue a doctorate in neuroscience and a medical degree with an aim to work at a research hospital.
“I am so thrilled for all of these students-Cali and Morrison, as well as Hannah and Aneek,” said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of UGA’s Honors Program. “They are wonderful individuals in addition to being impressive researchers. I am particularly pleased that each of them has taken full advantage of undergraduate research through CURO.”
The Goldwater Foundation has awarded 252 scholarships for the 2016-2017 academic year, selecting its scholars from a field of 1,150 students from 415 colleges and universities across the nation.
The scholarship program honoring U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Since it was established in 1989, the foundation has bestowed 7,680 scholarships worth approximately $48 million.