Out of four nominees from UConn  in the prestigious national Goldwater Scholarship competition, 3 are recipients and 1 has been named an Honorable Mention!  The Goldwater Scholarship supports sophomores or juniors who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement and research experience as undergraduates and are committed to earning a PhD or MD/PhD in a STEM discipline in the future.

Rebecca Jean Wiles (CLAS ’15) was named an Honorable Mention in the competition this year.

An honors student from Londonderry, NH, Rebecca is focusing her studies in the area of organic chemistry, particularly “green chemistry.” Consistently on the Dean’s list, Becky has also won the Office of Undergraduate Research Supply Award, a book award for Excellence in General Chemistry and the UConn Award. Actively involved in research, she is currently a member of the New Synthetic Methods Group (NSMG) headed by Dr. Nicholas Leadbeater (Chemistry), has contributed to one publication and, having been named a 2014 University Scholar, continues to collect promising data. Rebecca has also had research experiences through her participation in the Undergraduate Research Apprentice program and spent a summer at Stonehill College to hone her skills in green chemistry oxidation. Following graduation she aspires to earn a PhD in chemistry with a concentration in organic synthesis and ultimately pursue a career as an industrial scientist. When not in the lab, Rebecca enjoys baking, but also dedicates her time to the UConn Marching Band as a piccolo player.

Peter Larson (CANR ’15), Michael Cantara (ENGR ’16) and Patrick Lenehan (CLAS ’15) are all recipients of the award.  To learn more about them, see UConn Today‘s feature story:

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2014/03/three-uconn-students-named-goldwater-scholars/

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