Two UChicago Chemistry undergraduates earn 2024 Goldwater Scholarships
University of Chicago rising fourth-year students Sarah Kress and Joshua Pixley have been awarded 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarships, which support students who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.
They are among the 437 U.S. college students to be selected for the prestigious scholarship out of a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. Scholarships are awarded annually to cover winners’ cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year. Additionally, funds are designed to help STEM students fund their research during their final years of undergraduate study.
Sarah Kress is motivated by the opportunity to identify scientific problems that are relevant on a global scale—but where research findings have potential impacts far beyond her chosen field of chemistry.
“As someone who aspires to someday run her own lab, I also want to serve as a mentor to make research in chemistry more accessible, particularly for those who have been traditionally excluded from academic spaces,” Kress said. “A career as a professor will allow me to both push the boundaries of my field through scientific discovery and share those discoveries with others—whether scientists, students or those outside the field.”
Tell us about your research.
My research focuses on thinking about ways we can drive chemical reactions using electricity and identifying new kinds of catalysts to make each step along a chemical synthesis greener. I use electrochemistry to develop new synthetic techniques in an effort to help chemists and chemical engineers implement more sustainable practices globally.
Working under the mentorship of Anna Wuttig has helped to cultivate my love for discovery itself, learning why molecules do the things they do and then using those data to find answers to scientific questions. My passion lies in investigating the fundamental interactions that govern the behavior of molecules, and with Professor Wuttig, I’ve had the opportunity to experiment with new techniques in the unknown systems that we study.
For me, the draw of a career in research is that I’ll get to discover and develop brand-new chemical processes for the rest of my life.
What does it mean to you to receive the Goldwater Scholarship?
The Goldwater Scholarship is an amazing recognition of the work I’ve done so far, and an encouragement to keep pursuing my love of science. I’d also like to thank those who helped me along the way. Above all, I want to thank my first research mentor, Prof. Wuttig. Her pure passion and love for her research inspires me, as well as her ability to see the bigger picture while maintaining an incredibly detailed and careful approach to answering scientific questions. She dedicates so much of her time to working with her students one-on-one, and I would not be where I am as a scientist or a person without her support.
If I talked about all of the teachers and mentors who helped me, I’d be going on for pages and pages, but I’d like to thank in particular Scott Milam, and Profs. John Anderson, Kale Davies, Bryan Dickinson, Sarah King, and Greg Engel for all of their support.
Joshua Pixley is triple majoring in Molecular Engineering (Bioengineering Track), Biochemistry and Chemistry. He works as a researcher in the Dickinson Group and serves as a board member and current co-president of the UChicago International Genetic Engineering team.
“My introduction to research in the last two years has continuously solidified my interest in working towards a doctorate in chemistry,” said Pixley. “Wet lab research requires a type of critical and creative thinking that I have not found anywhere else and look forward to using into the future.”
Tell us about your research.
The human genome encodes over twenty thousand proteins. Of these, only around two hundred are currently druggable using small molecule inhibitors. A large portion of those remaining, many of which are therapeutic targets in cancer and other diseases, are considered “undruggable” using traditional modalities. I hope that my current and future work will contribute to the revolution in chemical biology that is making it possible to create therapeutics for diseases previously thought to be incurable.
What does it mean to you to receive the Goldwater Scholarship?
To receive this recognition is incredible validation that I have begun to take the correct steps on the ultimate path of my career. It is also wonderful to see the countless hours in the lab manifest into something external to the University.
I would like to express enormous gratitude to Professor Bryan Dickinson for fostering my work and finding a place for me in his group as well as to my mentor Dr. Matthew Styles for providing endless support and pushing me towards research independence. I would also like to thank my other fabulous recommenders, Profs. Mark Stoykovich and David Pincus for their guidance as well as CCRF for all of their help with my application.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents for being excited about good data and supportive after poor results even if they don’t always understand what I’m talking about. Without the support of all these amazing people, I would not have the confidence to move forward into this field.
UChicago’s winners were supported throughout the application process by the UChicago Goldwater faculty nomination committee and the College Center for Research and Fellowships (CCRF). CCRF supports undergraduates and recent College alumni through highly competitive national and international fellowships.
—Story was first published on UChicago’s College website.