Caltech Students Receive Churchill, Hertz Awards
Emily Russell, a Caltech senior physics major, has been named one of 12 Churchill Scholars for 2007-2008 by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.
The Churchill Scholarship provides support for one year of study and research at the University of Cambridge and covers travel, research expenses, all university/college fees, and a living allowance at Churchill College. It is currently worth between $44,000 and $50,000.
Russell will enter the program in astrophysics in the department of physics within the quantum matter group. From Yorktown Heights, N.Y., she is a recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship and other merit-based scholarships, and is involved in a capella singing and theater. Last year she studied at the University of Edinburgh on Caltech's Edinburgh Scholars Program.
After review at the local campuses, the applications for Churchill Scholarships are vetted and ranked by former Churchill scholars, most of whom are academic scientists. Over the past 45 years, the foundation has awarded almost 400 scholarships. Each year 87 of the top research universities and colleges that have been selected to participate in the competition each nominate two seniors for the competition.
This year 12 scholars were selected. There are three in engineering, two in applied mathematics, two in theoretical mathematics, two in chemistry, one in genetics, one in astrophysics, and one in oncology.
Several Caltech students have been named Churchill Scholars over the years and several Caltech faculty members are former Churchill Scholars including John Brady and Mitchio Okumura, as well as Alan Cummings, a member of the professional staff. Three Caltech students have been named fellows by the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. The foundation, which is focused on identifying and cultivating scientific talent in the United States, selected 15 students from an applicant pool of more than 580 students to receive support for five years of graduate studies in the applied physical, biological, and engineering sciences.
The no-strings-attached support gives Hertz Fellows financial independence and the freedom to conduct innovative research because their university or study choices are not limited by funding requirements.
The awardees are granted a full, five-year Hertz Foundation Fellowship valued at nearly $250,000 each, with a total value of $3.6 million over the grant period.
"Hertz Fellows stand apart in many ways, but mostly for their knowledge, physical intuition, and vision to explore questions that don't have easy answers," said senior fellowship interviewer Thomas A. Weaver, PhD, Hertz Fellow 1975.
The Caltech awardees are Michael Busch, a graduate student in planetary science, Matthew Fisher, an undergraduate student in computer science, and Zhan Wang, an undergraduate student in chemistry.
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Contact: Jill Perry (626) 395-3226 jperry@caltech.edu
Visit the Caltech Media Relations website at http://pr.caltech.edu/media.
