LAWRENCE Morans Emily Boyd, who will be a senior at the University of Kansas majoring in chemistry, is one of three KU students to be named as Astronaut Scholars for Emily Boyd the 2018-19 school year.
This is the first time that three KU students have won the award in the same year.
For one school to receive three scholarships is quite unusual and is a tribute to the quality of our nominees, said Steve Hawley, a KU professor of physics and astronomy and a former NASA astronaut who serves as the chairman of the scholarships campus committee. These students have all demonstrated that they will be outstanding future leaders in science and technology, and I look forward to seeing where their careers will take them.
The students will receive up to $10,000 and opportunities to participate in professional development events while being mentored by scholar alumni, C-level executives or an astronaut.
The six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts founded the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in 1984 as a means to encourage students to pursue scientific endeavors to keep the U.S. on the leading edge of technology. The Astronaut Scholarship specifically recognizes juniors and seniors who have demonstrated accomplishment in research and the potential to be future leaders in research and technology.
Astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs have joined the foundation, which has awarded more than $4 million to more than 400 of the nations top scholars.
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation accepted KU as a partner institution in 2014 based on the universitys STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) academic programs for undergraduates and the research capabilities and opportunities for undergraduate students. Admission into the scholarship program is highly competitive, and only the top research universities in the country are chosen to participate.
Boyd, 21, is the daughter of Mark and Patti Boyd of Moran. A graduate of Marmaton Valley High School, Boyd is preparing for a career researching environmentally beneficial catalysis.
She works in the lab of James Blakemore, assistant professor of chemistry, researching organometallic chemistry and catalysis. She has presented her work at regional and national meetings of the American Chemical Society.
Other recipients from KU are Joseph Loomis, a senior from Pratt majoring in chemistry and biochemistry, and Brianna Marsh, a senior from St. Louis majoring in neuroscience and minoring in social and behavioral sciences methodology.
Boyd and Loomis also earned Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships this year.
