As far as fellowships are concerned, Bowdoin has struck gold. This year, Bowdoin students have been honored with a number of prestigious awards, including two Udall Scholarships, a Beinecke Scholarship, a Goldwater Scholarship, six National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships and various Fulbright Scholarships.
Director of Student Fellowships and Research Cindy Stocks has been impressed with the numerous scholarships awarded to students of the College in the past few years.
"While last year was a great year for us, this year we have received a variety of different scholarships—including the Udall and Beinecke Scholarships, which we have not received in the past few years," she said.
The Udall Scholarship, awarded by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation, is given to students who are interested in either environmental or Native American issues.
"The program is designed to acknowledge and support the next generation of environmental leaders—the future change agents in the environmental movement," said Stocks.
While Bowdoin has not had a recipient of the Udall Scholarship since 2006, two students received the $5,000 scholarship this year: Andrew Cushing '12 and Teona Williams '12. While both are interested in environmental issues, Cushing sought to combine his love of history and environmental studies in order to address issues of historical preservation. Williams, an Africana studies minor, also plans to apply her field of study to the environment.
Junior Sean McElroy was awarded the Beinecke Scholarship. The scholarship provides selected students with $34,000 toward graduate education.
"The Beinecke is geared toward students who are planning to pursue Ph.D.s in the humanities, social sciences and arts," said Stocks.
Unlike other scholarships, the Bienecke Scholarship allows institutions to select one nominee from their respective student bodies. McElroy, Bowdoin's nomination, was one of only 20 students to be selected for the award nationwide.
Alex Williams '12 received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. In memory of Congressman Goldwater, the scholarship provides the recipient with $7,500 towards tuition and room and board costs. Williams was one of 275 students selected out of a pool of 1,095 science students nominated by their schools.
"The Goldwater [Scholarship] is very prestigious and is geared toward people who are pursuing careers in the sciences as researchers," Stocks said. "Last year, Alex received an honorable mention, so it was great that he was awarded the scholarship this year."
Six Bowdoin students have also received National Science Foundation Graduate Research (NSFGR) fellowships. Five of the awards went to alumni, and Evan Fricke '11 was the only current student to be honored. The fellowship awards each student with $30,000 over three years to help cover graduate school expenses, and also awards the graduate school in which the award winner attends $10,000 for three years.
"It's an extraordinary record for Bowdoin," said Stocks. "It's particularly noteworthy that Evan was awarded this as a senior—it's very unusal."
Past recipients of the NSFGR Fellowship include Google co-founder Sergey Brin, as well as "Freakonomics" co-author Stephen Levitt.
In addition to these accolades, several students are still waiting to hear about Fulbright Scholarships, which will be released within the next two weeks. The Fulbright program sends U.S. citizens abroad and brings international students to the United States to undertake graduate study and advanced research. As a result, deadlines for the Fulbright often depend on the 155 countries that participate in the program. The College has already had four Fulbright winners so far this academic year.