K-State Announces Goldwater Scholarship Winners
The subject: how to win nationwide scholarships. Kansas State University's grade: 100 percent, A+, 4.0. This year, four K-State students were nominated for Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, and all four won. It's "truly a remarkable achievement for them, individually, and for the faculty who have helped them achieve this honor," said K-State President Jon Wefald. "These winners, all from Kansas, represent the very best in science and math achievement." Brandon Grossardt, Brian Christopher Keller, Stephanie Russell and Jacob Taussig were among 309 students nationwide picked to win the scholarship. A total of 1,176 math, science and engineering students from across the nation were nominated by their professors. The winners will get $7,500 a year until they graduate, beginning with the fall semester.
Here's a look at K-State's winners: Russell, Manhattan, is a sophomore in biology, biochemistry and chemical science. Her parents are Phil and Jackie Russell; she graduated from Manhattan High School in 1998. Russell has earned semester honors consistently since she's been at K-State, and also several scholarships and awards. She plays oboe and English horn in the K-State orchestra, first chair for the oboe, and also plays in the Manhattan Municipal Band. Russell will get the biggest chunk of dough from the scholarship, $15,000, since she has two more years of college left.
Taussig, also of Manhattan, is a junior in biochemistry and chemical science. He is the son of Mark and Susan Taussig of Manhattan. He's won several other scholarships and awards and is currently an organic chemistry teaching assistant. Outside of school, he's an assistant in his church junior high youth group.
Grossardt, Clafin, is a junior in math. He, too, has won a handful of other awards and earned semester honors every semester. He has been a writer for the Kansas State Collegian, the campus student-run newspaper, and has served on the residence hall governing board. Grossardt is a graduate of Claflin High School. His parents are Roger and Connie Grossardt.
Keller, Douglass, is a junior in microbiology, international studies and premedicine. This semester he is studying abroad at the University Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France, where he is interning in a parasitology lab. Keller, who graduated from Douglass High School in 1996, is the son of James and Sherry Keller.
K-State students have won 40 Goldwater Scholarships since the program began in 1989. K- State is ranked first in the nation among public universities in the number of Goldwater winners. Among all colleges and universities in the nation, only Princeton, with 43 winners, and Harvard, with 41, have produced more Goldwater scholars.