All stars: In 2024, these Rowan scholars earned competitive national awards

This spring, some of Rowan University's highest achievers earned among the nation's most competitive and prestigious scholarships. Thanks to hard work, ambition and the support of their faculty, they landed a Fulbright, two Goldwater Scholarships and a National Science Foundation grant for graduate research students.

Keep aiming high, Profs.

Fulbright U.S. Student Program

Kavin Haldo has the grades, determination and drive to change the world, and landing one of the most competitive scholarships in higher education is the latest proof.

A Rowan University marketing major in the William G. Rohrer College of Businesswith a minor in psychology and a Certificate of Undergraduate Study in public policy, the 19-year-old graduated in May. He was accepted this spring for a highly competitive Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) award.

The ETA program, which enables high-achieving scholars to teach abroad, is one of several scholarships available through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which matches Americans with teaching assignments in more than 140 nations where they also serve as cultural ambassadors.

In February, Haldo heads to Timor-Leste, a small Southeast Asian island nation where he'll teach English to university students.

Read more about Haldo here.

Goldwater Scholarship

Two engineering students received the prestigious 2024 Goldwater Scholarship, awarded to students pursuing research careers in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.

Matthew Conway of Haddon Township and Madeline "Maddy" Dunsmore of Mantua Township, both in the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineeringand the Martinson Honors College, will receive funding toward their senior years through the Goldwater Scholarship Program, among the oldest national scholarships supporting the next generation of research leaders in these fields.

Of this year's 438 scholarships, Conway and Dunsmore are two of only 64 students in engineering and materials research nationally to earn the award.

Federally endowed and established in 1986, the Goldwater Foundation's scholarship program honors Sen. Barry Goldwater. The foundation received 1,353 nominations from 446 academic institutions to compete for the 2024 scholarships; 438 scholarships were awarded. They include: 57 in mathematics and computer science; 237 in the sciences; 80 in medicine; and 64 in engineering and materials research.

In total, 10 students from Rowan University have earned the Goldwater Scholarship since 2006.

Read more here.

National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Madison Dautle loves to analyze large data-many gigabytes of it.

Now, with funding from the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program(NSF-GRFP), the Rowan University doctoral student can devote more time to her work with Yong Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological and biomedical sciences, as they develop deep-learning methods for better understanding the millions of simultaneous interactions made by a cell's chromatin, the material within a cell's nucleus made of RNA, DNA and protein.

"Data analysis has always been my favorite part of science," said Dautle, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in complex biological systems. "With this award, I have much more time to do research work and outreach" including organizing a bioinformatics club, workshops and mentoring others in her program.

The NSF program is the country's oldest fellowship program directly supporting graduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Given in recognition of outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported disciplines, the prestigious, five-year fellowship provides an annual stipend for three years, along with financial support for tuition and fees, as well as access to professional development opportunities.

Read more about Dautle here.

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