Taylor Adams '11 and Deborah Barany '11 Named Goldwater Scholars

Taylor Adams ’11 and Deborah Barany ’11 have been named Barry M. Goldwater Scholars for the 2010-11 academic year. They are among 278 scholars from across the U.S. to receive the Goldwater, the premier national undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Kevin Graepel ’11 received honorable mention.

The Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,111 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. Virtually all recipients intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their degree objective. The one- and two-year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

Taylor Adams is a chemistry and biology double major and Dean’s List student. During the summer of 2009 he conducted research under the direction of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nicole Snyder. The goal of the five-week project was to synthesize a series of carbohydrate-porphyrin conjugates as potential therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Adams presented his research at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in March, and the manuscript for the project has been submitted to the journal Organic Letters.

During the summer of 2010 he will conduct research with Professor Snyder at the Max-Planck Institute in Berlin. Germany. The research will involve the synthesis and biological evaluation of A2G2F, a potential therapeutic vaccine against glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of brain tumor.

Adams received the 2009 POLYED Undergraduate Award for Achievement in Organic Chemistry; the Dr. Philip I. Bowman Prize Scholarship in 2009; the CRC Press First-Year Prize in Chemistry; and the Phi Beta Kappa Book Prize, awarded to the 10 students with the best academic record at the end of their first year at Hamilton.

He is a member of the Hamilton Outing Club and plays intramural badminton and intramural football. After graduation Adams hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry and work in the field of medical research, specifically in drug design. He is a graduate of Northampton (Mass.) High School.

Deborah Barany is a neuroscience and mathematics major at Hamilton. A Dean’s List student, she received Summer Science Research Grants to conduct research with Hamilton College faculty in 2008 and 2009. Working with Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Jonathan Vaughan, she researched computational models for the planning of everyday movements.

Barany received the Charles A. Dana Prize Scholarship for academic achievement, character and leadership, the Phi Beta Kappa Book Prize, and the Kellogg Essay Prize in 2008 and the Scholar-Athlete Award in 2009.

During Hamilton’s summer and winter breaks she was a volunteer researcher for professor of Psychology Stephen Engel at the University of Minnesota, where she designed a psychophysical behavioral task to quantitatively study cue integration of two competing visual percepts.

Barany is a member of Hamilton's women's varsity tennis team, the Hamilton College Orchestra, and is a student journalist for Hamilton’s Admissions Office. She serves on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is a member of Hamilton Action Volunteer Outreach Coalition (HAVOC). She is also a member of the curling team, and plays intramural sports at Hamilton.

Barany is a graduate of Roseville Area High School, Roseville, Minn.

Kevin Graepel is a chemistry major and serves a research assistant in the department. Last summer he was part of a research group that worked on altering Vancomycin's structure in order to reduce microbial resistance. The students worked with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nicole Snyder. Graepel is a member of the Hamilton College Orchestra, varsity track and field and Delta Phi fraternity.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The Scholarship Program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields. In its 24-year history, the Foundation has awarded 6,079 scholarships worth approximately $58 million.