Elizabeth Donlon ’18 is the latest Union student to be awarded a Goldwater Scholarship, the premiere undergraduate award for students pursuing careers in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.
Donlon is among 240 sophomores and juniors selected for academic merit from among 1,286 students nominated by their colleges and universities nationwide. Each will receive up to $7,500 to cover tuition, fees, books, and room and board.
“The nomination files we received this year were outstanding. We clearly had to choose the best from among the best,” said John Mateja, president of the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
Created in 1989, the scholarship honors the memory of U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater.
Of this year’s Scholars, 22 are mathematics majors, 153 are science and related majors, 51 are majoring in engineering, and 14 are in computer science.
The program boasts an impressive career track record. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 89 Rhodes Scholarships, 127 Marshall Awards, 145 Churchill Scholarships and numerous other distinguished fellowships.
Elizabeth Donlon ‘18
Hometown: Concord, N.H.
Major: Mechanical engineering
Activities: Member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority, Women’s Club Ice Hockey, Sorum Council, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Research: Completed a Sophomore Scholars Project with Professor Ann Anderson in the NSF-supported Aerogel Lab that resulted in a Steinmetz presentation, "Coating Alumina-Oxide Beads with Copper-Alumina Aerogels." Over the summer Donlon received support via the Lee L. Davenport ’37 Summer Research Fellowship and has subsequently continued her research on copper silica aerogels in catalysis with Professor Anderson in the Aerogel Lab. She will be presenting her research in a poster at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz.
Career goal: Obtain a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and work in industrial research and development or academia
To learn more about the Goldwater Scholars, click here.