KU News Release

Two KU sophomores win Goldwater scholarships; two earn honorable mentions

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas sophomores have won national Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, regarded as the premier undergraduate award to encourage excellence in science, engineering and mathematics. Two more KU students received honorable mentions.

KU’s Goldwater scholars for 2007-08 are:

— Kyle Hesed, Pawnee Rock sophomore in biology, who plans to earn a doctorate in herpetology. Hesed’s career goals include teaching and research in evolutionary biology with amphibians and reptiles in a university, research or conservation organization.

— Stephanie Ann Hill, Shawnee sophomore in chemistry and biochemistry, who plans to earn a doctorate in medicinal chemistry. Hill’s goals include conducting research on the process of drug discovery and development, ultimately leading to a breakthrough in the treatment of diseases.

As Goldwater scholars, Hesed and Hill each receive up to $7,500 for tuition, fees, books and room and board. As sophomores they are eligible for two years of support. Winners who will graduate in 2008 receive one year of support.

Two KU juniors received honorable mentions: Heather Marie Owen, Leawood, majoring in electrical engineering; and Laura A. Stiles, Prairie Village, majoring in engineering physics. Honorable mention is recognition of excellence.

“Kyle Hesed and Stephanie Hill are outstanding young scientists, and they are also outstanding young Kansans,” said KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway. “Their achievement and their career goals not only reflect their individual excellence as scholars, but also strong support provided by their families and teachers in their communities. I congratulate Kyle and Stephanie.

“I was also pleased to learn that Heather Owen and Laura Stiles, both outstanding engineering juniors, earned honorable mentions. The Goldwater competition attracted more than 1,000 of the nation’s best sophomores and juniors in the sciences, in math and in engineering. To have all four of our nominees recognized is a tribute to their hard work and to the excellent educational opportunities they have received at KU and in their communities.”

A total of 43 KU students, including Hesed and Hill, have been selected for Goldwater scholarships since they were first awarded in 1989.

Peggy Goldwater Clay, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, announced the 317 scholars for 2007-08. The new scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,110 students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

Goldwater scholars have impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious postgraduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater scholars have received 63 Rhodes scholarships, 80 Marshall awards and numerous other distinguished fellowships.

Only sophomores or juniors who plan to graduate in 2008 or 2009 and who were judged to have outstanding academic records, significant research experience and high potential for a research career were eligible for nomination by their universities. Nominees submitted applications that included an essay related to their careers and faculty recommendations.

Biographical information about KU’s 2007-08 Goldwater scholars:

BARTON COUNTY
From Pawnee Rock (ZIP 67567)
Raised on a small farm in central Kansas, Kyle Hesed knew from childhood that he wanted to study reptiles. As a biology major at KU, Hesed has not only made two trips abroad for research with herpetologists but has also begun to focus on researching the evolution of specific species. In July, Hesed will present results of DNA sequencing analysis of lizards that he collected in the Philippines at the national meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Society Study of Amphibians and Reptiles and Herpetologists’ League. His study was directed by Rafe M. Brown, KU assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. Hesed spent 2004 in Thailand on an undergraduate research grant to assist in an amphibian study directed by a KU doctoral student, David McLeod. While in Thailand, Hesed conducted his own ecological and morphological study of a little-researched venomous snake. Hesed received an Undergraduate Research Award to conduct fieldwork in the Philippines in 2006. Hesed says his study abroad has led to an additional interest in evolutionary linguistics as a minor. He is a graduate of the Otis-Bison Senior High School and the son of Larry and Laurie Hesed.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Shawnee (ZIP 66217)
Watching the impact cancer has had within her family, Stephanie Ann Hill chose to major in chemistry and biochemistry to prepare for a career focused on revolutionizing pharmaceutical treatment of disease, especially cancer. One of Hill’s grandfathers and an aunt died because of cancer, and her mother has battled breast cancer. At KU, Hill is in the lab of Brian S. Blagg, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry, whose research includes the development of anti-cancer agents. Bragg says that Hill’s lab work directed by a doctoral student is included in a journal article that has been submitted for publication. Hill will be listed as one of the authors, reflecting an extraordinary achievement for an undergraduate. She is a National Merit Scholar, a Chancellors Club Scholar and a Kansas Governor’s Scholar. She has received two Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence scholarships and presented posters at the Kansas IDeA seminar and at the KU Research Experience for Undergraduates. In addition to her academic studies, Hill is a violinist in the University Symphony and concertmaster for the University Chamber Orchestra. She is the daughter of Douglas and Mary Hill and a graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.

Biographical information about KU students receiving honorable mention:

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Leawood (ZIP 66209)
Heather Marie Owen is a junior majoring in electrical engineering with a long-term goal of developing medical imaging technologies to aid in better identification and diagnosis of serious illnesses. Owen, who also takes biology and anatomy classes, anticipates applying radar-imaging concepts to uses such as ultrasound in medicine. For the past year, Owen has worked as an undergraduate research assistant at KU’s Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets. Working under the direction of S. Prasad Gogineni, a Dean E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Owen is redesigning a key component of the radar that generates an ultra-wideband chirp signal. The federally funded project seeks to improve radar that KU scientists use to measure ice sheets. She is a National Merit Commended Scholar, a Kansas Governor’s Scholar and a KU Watkins-Berger Scholar. She is the daughter of Donald and Marjolyn Owen and a graduate of Blue Valley North High School.

From Prairie Village (ZIP 66208)
As a youngster, Laura A. Stiles dreamed of exploring space. She plans a career in spacecraft design and is majoring in engineering physics with a concentration in aerospace. Stiles has conducted quark chemistry research with an Undergraduate Research Award. To help present her complex topic, Stiles included a bathtub full of quarks in her poster presentation at the 2005 Conference Experience for Undergraduates at the American Physics Society division of nuclear physics United States-Japan meeting in Hawaii. She works as a student research assistant with Michael Murray, assistant professor of physics, studying quark chemistry to examine the chemical equilibrium attained in heavy ion collisions. Stiles has written a paper with Murray on this research that will be submitted for publication. Stiles also received an honorable mention in the 2006 Goldwater scholarship competition. She is a Shawnee Mission East High School graduate and the daughter of Mark and Brenda Stiles.

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