Newsroom

Jessica Kirkpatrick Wins Goldwater Scholarship

The award allots up to $7,500 to incoming seniors and is given to students intending to pursue careers in math, science and engineering fields.

Kirkpatrick, of Albany, Calif., is among 302 Goldwater Scholarship winners from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. She was selected from a field of more than 1,150 applicants. Kirkpatrick joins two other Occidental winners receiving Goldwater prizes for the 2001-02 academic year. The award will help cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board.

“I am extremely honored to be awarded the Goldwater Scholarship,” Kirkpatrick said. “I see it as a recognition of my work as a scientist and the award further fuels my motivation to continue in my field. I believe that the prestige of the Goldwater will benefit me when applying to graduate school.”

“Jessica is one of the most motivated physics students I have ever met,” added Dan Snowden-Ifft, assistant professor of physics. “It is a pleasure working with her.”

Kirkpatrick, a 1998 Albany High School graduate, is studying abroad for six months at the University of Sheffield in England. With the aid of a National Science Foundation research grant, Kirkpatrick and Snowden-Ifft are building a dark matter detector that will be installed in a northern England salt mine.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation is a federally endowed agency honoring the late Arizona senator. In its 13-year history, the foundation has awarded more than 3,300 scholarships worth about $33 million.