Two more Clarkson University honors students have been awarded Goldwater Scholarships.
Margaret Dedloff ’20, a biology and history major from Buffalo, N.Y., and Michael Chirgwin ‘20, a chemical engineering major from Hinesburg, V.T., were named Goldwater Scholars.
Including this year’s scholars, 40 Clarkson University students have received this highly coveted award since the scholarships were first awarded in 1989. This is the 20th consecutive year that at least one Clarkson student has received a Goldwater Scholarship.
The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious award in the United States given to undergraduates studying in natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. It is given to sophomores and juniors who demonstrate outstanding potential. There were 496 scholarships awarded for the 2019-2020 academic year. Because of the increase in the number of awards given, there were no Honorable Mentions awarded this year.
Clarkson is one of only 15 institutions nationwide to win a Goldwater every year since 2005.
Margaret Dedloff, a graduate of Mount Mercy Academy in Buffalo, is a junior Honors Program student dual majoring in biology and history with a minor in chemistry. She was a 2017 Trudeau Biomedical Scholar and has conducted research in Professor Kenneth Wallace’s Zebrafish Lab and Professor Andrew David’s lab. She participated in an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at the University of Georgia in the summer of 2018 where she worked in Professor Eric Harvill’s lab. Her work is focused on bacterial interaction with the immune system and has been published in Frontiers in Microbiology. The goal of Margaret's current research is to understand the role bacterial sigma factors play in microbial manipulation of the host immune system. Her post-graduate plans include attending graduate school for immunology.
Michael Chirgwin, a graduate of Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, Vermont, is a junior Honors Program student majoring in chemical engineering with minors in math and chemistry and a concentration in biomolecular science. He has conducted research in Professor Mario Wriedt's Metal-Organic Framework Lab since the summer of 2017. A goal of Chirgwin's current research is to incorporate a zwitterionic ligand into the metal-organic framework to enhance the capacity for carbon dioxide capture. Last summer, he went to Kent State University as a part of the Liquid Crystal REU program. There, he worked on chiral liquid crystals with Dr. Torsten Hegmann, Associate Director of the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute. His post-graduate plans include attending graduate school for organic chemistry.
Clarkson’s Honors Program is an intensive four-year curriculum for exceptionally talented students. The University admits only 50 new students to the Honors Program each year.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.
