Furman University Awarded Beckman Scholars Grant for Research by Chemistry Majors
April 5, 2009
GREENVILLE, SC – April 3, 2009 – Furman University is one of nine schools in the nation awarded a Beckman Scholars Program Institutional Award, a highly competitive grant supporting scientific research by undergraduates.
The $77,200 grant was awarded to the Furman Chemistry Department and will fund four Beckman Scholarships over a three-year period beginning this summer.
This is the 12th year of the Beckman program, and Furman is one of five baccalaureate institutions to have received at least four of the awards over the history of the program. The others are Haverford College, Smith College, Wellesley College and Hope College.
Each year the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation invites about 100 schools, from baccalaureate to major research institutions, to apply for the grants. This year, 26 of the applications were selected for extensive review by a panel of distinguished professors, and Furman’s made the final cut.
“I salute your commitment to quality undergraduate research,” said Jacqueline Dorrance, executive director of the Beckman Foundation, in notifying Furman of the grant.
The other schools to receive grants are the University of California at Los Angeles, California State University, College of the Holy Cross, Ohio State University, San Francisco State University, Smith College, the University of Central Florida and the University of Pittsburgh.
The chemistry majors named Beckman Scholars at Furman will receive scholarships of $19,300 each and will be required to do research part-time during one academic year and full-time during two summers. This scholarship includes funds for travel to scientific meetings and for research supplies.
“In a year when only nine of these awards were made, you really had to have something stand out in your proposal. For Furman, we believe that was the success of our eleven former Beckman Scholars,” said Paul S. Wagenknecht, chemistry professor at Furman.
Four of those former scholars entered M.D./Ph.D. programs, four entered chemistry Ph.D. programs, and one entered medical school. Yet another entered graduate school in public health administration after serving for two years as a volunteer at rural health clinics in Africa and India, according to Wagenknecht.
Furman’s Beckman Scholars have earned a number of fellowships to continue their education and research. They’ve received three National Science Foundation graduate fellowships, two NCAA postgraduate fellowships, a National Defense Science and Engineering graduate fellowship and a National Institutes of Health doctoral training fellowship.
“This impressive group has published 36 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and given 68 scientific presentations to date,” Wagenknecht said.
