NSF PR 99-26 - April 16, 1999
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Graduate Students Awarded Research Fellowships
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced
the awarding of 900 three-year Graduate Research Fellowships
to outstanding college and university students as
part of NSF's effort to help ensure the vitality and
excellence of the U.S. human resource base in science,
mathematics and engineering. The fellowships offer
support for graduate study in all scientific disciplines.
Luther S. Williams, NSF Assistant Director for Education
and Human Resources, praised the significant contributions
that Graduate Fellows have made in research, teaching
and industry over the 48-year history of the program.
"This diverse group of fellows represents the spirit
and vitality required in science and engineering to
continue the economic vigor and technological strength
essential to the nation as we move toward the new
millennium," said Williams.
The Graduate Fellowship program is one of NSF's oldest
programs, with roots in NSF's original 1950 charter.
"Fellows are promising young mathematicians, scientists
and engineers, with the accompanying expectation that
the lifelong careers of Fellowship recipients will
be marked by significant contributions to research,
teaching and industrial applications in science, mathematics
and/or engineering," said NSF graduate education division
director Susan Duby. "Fellows also are distinguished
by the high rate of completion of their Ph.D.s, the
high quality of their employing departments, attainment
of postdoctoral appointments and research grants,
and receipt of prestigious awards and honors. Eighteen
former Fellows have won Nobel Prizes," she said. And,
as the career options of the typical Ph.D. increasingly
include non-academic settings, "NSF recognizes the
importance of the contributions of science and engineering
Ph.D.s in work and research outside traditional academic
settings," Duby explained.
In 1998, the last year of the Minority Graduate Research
Fellowship competition, 134 minority students received
awards in the separate competition, and 41 (5.4 percent)
received awards in the general competition. Among
the 1999 awardees, 76 (8.4 percent) are members of
minority groups traditionally underrepresented in
the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology
fields. In 1999, NSF conducted this single competition
for Graduate Research Fellowships, to replace emphasis
on selection with emphasis on recruitment and development,
toward increased participation of women and underrepresented
minorities in advanced careers in the sciences, mathematics
and engineering.
"While in the short term the new emphasis may yield
a smaller percentage of minority participation than
does a separate competition, NSF believes that a comparable
rate will be attained as we gain experience with the
new emphasis, and that the long-term benefits will
be more durable," said Duby.
Included in the fellowships, which begin during the
1999/2000 academic year, were 70 awards for women
in engineering and 10 for women in computer and information
science. (Women won 48.8 percent of the awards overall).
Awardees come from all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The awardees received their
baccalaureate degrees from 238 colleges and universities.
The fellowships provide a stipend of $15,000 per year
for fulltime graduate study. NSF also provides to
the awardee's school an annual cost-of-education allowance
of $10,500 in lieu of all tuition and required fees
at U.S. institutions. NSF Graduate Fellows may attend
any appropriate non-profit U.S. or foreign institution
of higher education. The three years of support may
be used within a five-year window, during which time
students may suspend receipt of their fellowship stipend
in order to incorporate teaching or work experience
into their graduate education.
NSF also designated 995 individuals to receive honorable
mention in this annual Graduate Fellowship competition.
Those students plus the 900 awardees are eligible
to use supercomputer resources provided by the NSF-sponsored
Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure.
Editors: The list of 1999/2000 Graduate Research
Fellows is available on the web at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gf99rawd.
The list of those receiving honorable mention is on
the web at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gf99rhm.
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