Student Matthew Phinney Selected from a Field of Nearly 2,000 Applicants
 
HARTFORD, Conn. – Matthew D. Phinney ’10, has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year. Phinney, a math and music major who is studying at Oxford University this year, was selected from an applicant pool of 1,097 undergraduates.

As one of 278 Goldwater Scholars, the junior from Haydenville, Mass., will receive a $7,500 stipend.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 in honor of the late U.S. Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, an Arizona Republican. The program’s goal is to provide a source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding them scholarships to enable them to pursue careers in those fields.

The competition is intense, and institutions of higher learning are allowed to nominate only four undergraduates per year. As a result, the Goldwater Scholarship is considered among the most prestigious award conferred on students in the natural sciences.

In awarding the Scholarships, the Foundation Board of Trustees considers the nominee’s field of study and career aspirations and the extent to which the student has displayed the commitment and potential to make a significant contribution.

The number of scholarships awarded per region depends on the number and qualifications of the nominees in that region. They are defined as each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are deemed as one entity.

Many Goldwater Scholars plan to further their education and pursue Ph.D.s in their field of endeavor.

back to top