Three students who are working on undergraduate degrees at higher education institutions in Arkansas have been named Goldwater Scholars for 2022, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation has announced.
The students -- one from Lyon College in Batesville and two from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville -- will each receive a scholarship of up to $7,500. The funds are applied to the students' final years of college.
More than 5,000 students competed nationally for the Goldwater Scholarship, which is considered one of the nation's most prestigious awards for undergraduate students who plan doctoral studies and research careers in the fields of mathematics, the sciences and engineering.
The purpose of the program 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 those fields.
The Arkansas undergraduate students, their fields of study and career goals, as provided by the Goldwater Foundation, are:
• Mary Jia of Stuttgart, an engineering major at the UA. Her goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, establish a gene editing-based lab focused on developing novel editing tools and teach at the university level.
• Nikkolette Perkins of Jonesboro, who is pursuing a double major in chemistry and mathematics at Lyon College. She plans to pursue a Ph. D. in organic chemistry and work at a research facility for drug discovery.
• Joseph Roll, of Joplin., Mo., who is studying physics and astronomy at UA. His goal is to get a Ph.D. in physics, conduct research in theoretical physics and teach at the university level.