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Largest cohort of U grad students awarded NSF fellowship

Twenty students received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awards, and 11 students received honorable mentions.

Twenty University of Utah graduate students have been offered awards in the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) for 2022, the largest U cohort to date. The prestigious fellowship supports outstanding doctoral and research-based master’s students doing research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. A total of 17 fellowship winners received their baccalaureate degrees here at the U, the largest group of winners ever who trained at the U as undergraduates.

“We had really moved the mark over the past few years, but this year we hit it out of the park,” said David Kieda, dean of the U’s Graduate School.


Established in 1952, the NSF GRFP is the oldest fellowship program of its kind. The 2022 fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $34,000, a $12,000 cost of allowance for tuition and fees, and numerous research and professional development opportunities.

Kieda notes that this year’s cohort of 20 fellows is the sixth-highest among Pac-12 peers and includes graduate students in 16 different departments, ranging from Child Development to Ecology to Biomedical Engineering.

“UU-related” means graduate students currently at the U, plus students who earned their baccalaureate degrees at the U and are now studying at another institution.

Congratulations to the 2022 NSF GRFP fellows:

Devaki Abhyankar, biomedical engineering
Tyler Ball, chemical catalysis
Hannah Duffy, biomedical engineering
Robert Falconer, biomedical engineering
Oliver Flatt, formal methods, verification and programming languages
Jordan Grammer, neurosciences
Cleo Hancock, chemical engineering
Martina Hollearn, cognitive neuroscience
Lewis Kunik, atmospheric sciences
Shaylee Larsen, chemical engineering
Samantha Linn, mathematical biology
Nicole Losurdo, neurosciences
Madeline Meyer, chemistry of life processes
Nicolette Molina, physiological psychology
Megan Mullineaux, child development
Shai-anne Nalder, biochemistry
Kaitlin O’Dell, applied mathematics
Nathan Ortiz, mechanical engineering
Andrew Simonson, chemical engineering
Caleb Thomson, biomedical engineering

 

Congratulations to the 11 graduate students who received honorable mentions:

Donovan Birky, mechanical engineering
Hannah Burton, chemical theory, models and computational methods
Kayla Eschenbacher, neurosciences
Shelby Galinat, sustainable chemistry
Rachel Hurrell, biochemistry
Maci Jacobson, neurosciences
Rachel Klink, biomedical engineering
Roxanne Lamson, Archaeology
Tre Presley, mechanical engineering
Moe Samha, chemical catalysis
David Williamson, analytical chemistry