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St. Olaf Goldwater Scholars demonstrate outstanding potential in math, science

By Clare Kennedy '07
March 31, 2005

Lisa Schaus '06, William Shyy '07 and Daniel Visscher '06 are among the 320 undergraduate sophomores and juniors nationwide awarded prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarships. Established by Congress in 1986 to foster and encourage excellence in science and mathematics, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is awarded annually to students who demonstrate outstanding potential and who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

Lisa Schaus '06, a chemistry and music double major, is working to synthesize new compounds that model the active sites of certain enzymes. These enzymes are found in everything from bacteria to humans and often catalyze the transfer of an oxygen atom, a process that is very important for cell metabolism. "Another lab can look at the compounds that we make and how they react, and use that information to better understand the metabolic processes of the cell," says Schaus. She plans to earn her Ph.D. in organic chemistry, with a special interest in organometallic catalysis and green chemistry, and teach at a college or university.

William Shyy '07, a biology major, intends to pursue an M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics. He plans to practice clinical medicine and conduct medical research in genomics. "My goal is to develop gene-therapy treatments to control the expression of genetic diseases," says Shyy. In previous summers, Shyy conducted genetics research at Iowa State University and the University of Southern California. During summer 2005, he conducted cancer research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Dan Visscher '06, a mathematics and physics double major who spent spring 2005 studying in Budapest, Hungary, through the Budapest Semester in Mathematics study abroad program, worked on "a project in commutative algebra I started last summer and working on publishing the resulting paper, 'Minimal Free Resolutions of Complete Bipartite Graph Ideals.'" Summer 2005 he researched in the areas of algebra and topology at Hope College. He plans to attend graduate school with a goal of conducting research and teaching at a college or university.

The 2005-06 Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,091 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities across the United States. Goldwater Scholars have very impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 58 Rhodes Scholarships, 72 Marshall Awards (6 of the 40 awarded in the United States in 2005), and numerous other distinguished fellowships.

Since 1995, 23 St. Olaf students have been awarded Goldwater Scholarships.

Contact Carole Leigh Engblom at 507-646-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.