UI Student Wins Prestigious National Goldwater Scholarship
April 1, 2005 [excerpt from press release]
MOSCOW, Idaho – University Honors Program student Ted Yamamoto is one of two UI students selected in a national competition to receive a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship next year to help him pursue a career in biology and microbiology.
Ted joins UHP member Bryan Haney of Eagle, Idaho, a UI senior in chemical engineering who studied as a Goldwater Scholar this year. These students are among the nine UI students who have won the scholarship during the last six years--seven of those students were members of the University Honors Program.
The Goldwater scholarships provide students with $7,500 a year to help them pursue advanced degrees and careers in science and engineering. The program is funded by the U.S. Congress, in honor of the late senator from Arizona.
This year’s scholars were the only two Idaho recipients among the 320 students chosen nationwide from a pool of 1,091 nominees.
"The successes of our students in a national competition such as this testifies to the quality of both the students and faculty at UI,” said UI Honors Program associate director Mark Warner.
A sophomore from Caldwell, Yamamoto is pursuing a dual major in biology and English, and he is on track to complete the curricular requirements for the University Honors Program Certificate. He received a fellowship last summer through the statewide Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network funded by the National Institutes of Health.
He plans to pursue a doctorate in microbiology and study the use and effectiveness of probiotics, or the use of beneficial microorganisms to promote health, for a pharmaceutical company.
Bryan Haney believes his future career choice, nuclear engineering, and his undergraduate research experiences helped him land a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Haney also received the UHP Certificate in May 2005 upon his graduation.
Haney honed his interest in science through internships on the Juneau icefields studying glaciers and a summer internship at an Alaskan chemical plant. He serves as American Institute of Chemical Engineering student chapter president and chaired the Honors Student Advisory Board.