UI STUDENT WINS NATIONAL BARRY M. GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP
July 1, 2003
MOSCOW - University of Idaho sophomore physics major Benjamin Pollard of Boise won a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, one of 300 awarded nationally this year.
The son of Rick and Connie Pollard of Boise, he is also studying astronomy and mathematics at UI. He plans a research career in theoretical astrophysics and hopes to teach at a university after completing graduate studies.
A National Merit Scholar and a NASA Scholar, Pollard has assisted faculty with research on planetary atmospheric structures.
"UI students have been highly successful in competing for these awards," said Stephan Flores, UI Honors Program director and Goldwater Scholarships faculty representative.
Pollard joins five UI students who have won Goldwater Scholarships since 2000. He is the only 2003 Goldwater recipient enrolled at an Idaho university.
The Goldwater Scholarship is a premier undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The scholarship pays up to $7,500 a year for the final one or two years of a winner's undergraduate career and recognizes students for academic excellence. Its goal is to stimulate science and technology careers.
Pollard spent last fall studying at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He also worked as a stargazing guide at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station and assisted researchers there. The diverse visitors to Mauna Kea shared one thing in common, he said, "every person is spellbound by the beauty and intrigue of the cosmos."
His own interest in astrophysics is as fundamental as humanity's inherent quest to understand the heavens. Pollard said, "It's just so fascinating, and there's so much to learn."
His academic mentors, and particularly his parents, taught him that "learning, no matter how difficult, is a life-long endeavor and well worth the effort," he said.
This summer, Pollard will participate in an internship at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The internship is funded by the UI-NASA Space Grant Consortium.
CONTACTS: Stephan Flores, UI Honors Program Director, (208) 885-6147, sflores@uidaho.edu, and Bill Loftus, UI science writer (208) 885-7694, bloftus@uidaho.edu