2010 Goldwater Scholars

Ohio Northern University senior Joshua Szekely, a chemistry major from Madison, Ohio, has been selected as a 2010 Goldwater Scholar by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Excellence in Education Program. For six consecutive years, Ohio Northern students have been the recipients of this premier award honoring those in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

Szekely’s primary research focuses on physical organic chemistry particles and specifically the azo dye isomerization. Under the supervision of ONU chemistry professor Jeff Gray, Szekely has researched the thermal relaxtion rate of the azo dye molecule and presented his findings at the National American Chemistry Society Conference, this spring in San Francisco.

In addition, junior Stephanie Ash, a physics major from Beavercreek, Ohio, and Mitchell Thayer, a junior physics major from Painsville, Ohio, received honorable mention honors in the competitive national scholarship program.

With a focus on green energy research, Ash worked on thin-film solar cell research at the University of Toledo in the summer of 2009 under the supervision of Dr. Robert Collins. She also started low-energy electron diffraction research at ONU with Dr. Melita Caragiu.

In 2009, Thayer conducted research with the support of a National Science Foundation Grant that focused on intramolecular charge transfer in 4-aminobenzoic acid derivatives at the College of Wooster under Dr. Sarah J. Schmidtke and Dr. John Lindner.

Established in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation fosters and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. After more than two decades, the foundation has awarded 5,801 scholarships worth approximately $56 million.

This year, the foundation selected 278 scholarship recipients from a field of 1,111 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.