Cornell student awarded prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

MOUNT VERNON – Danielle Bowen, a Cornell College junior from Orion, Ill., has received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate award for students interested in the fields of science, mathematics and engineering.

The award covers expenses for college tuition, fees, books and room and board, up to $7,500. Scholars are nominated by their professors and ultimately chosen based on their academic excellence; virtually all plan to obtain doctorates. There were 323 Goldwater Scholars from across the United States named for the 2006-2007 academic year.

Bowen, a double major in mathematics and biology, intends to pursue a doctorate in statistical genetics and conduct research in mapping loci that are contributors to fatal human diseases. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa; president of the Cornell Mathematics Society; treasurer of Tri-Beta, the biology honor society; a member of Geology Club and Biology Reading Group; a tutor for the math department and a peer consultant for the Writing Studio.

“Danielle’s study of mathematics, statistics and computer science will contribute greatly to her ability to do meaningful research in the biological sciences. This renaissance approach will be the trend in first-rate scientific education and research in the coming years,” said Tony deLaubenfels, professor of computer science and mathematics. He is Cornell’s Goldwater Scholarship faculty representative.

Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 63 Rhodes Scholarships (five of the 32 awarded in the United States in 2006), 80 Marshall Awards (eight of the 40 awarded in the United States in 2006) and numerous other distinguished fellowships.

The Goldwater Scholarship honoring Sen. Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Of the 2006-2007 recipients, 182 are men, 141 are women; 32 are mathematics majors, 234 are science majors, 47 are majoring in engineering and 10 are computer science-related majors; many have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering and computer disciplines.