Grants & Awards 2019 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorees

Twenty-seven current Penn graduate students have been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and 21 received Honorable Mentions. These students were selected from a highly-competitive pool of over 12,000 applications nationwide. We congratulate these students, who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to their research, as well as the faculty mentors who have given them guidance and support along the way. 

2019 Penn Graduate NSF GRFP Honorees 

• Luella Allen-Waller, PhD student, Biology (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Tala F. Azar, PhD student, Bioengineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Faviolla Andrea Baez-Cruz, PhD student, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Casey Michael O'Day Barkan, PhD student, Physics & Astronomy (SAS); Recipient

• Margaret M Billingsley, PhD student, Bioengineering (SEAS); Honorable Mention

• Michael Joseph Boyle, PhD student, Materials Science & Engineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Thomas Brazelton, PhD student, Mathematics (SAS); Recipient

• Gregory George Cajka, PhD student, Neuroscience (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Ashleigh Imani Cartwright, PhD student, Sociology (SAS); Recipient

• Vincent John Esposito, PhD student, Chemistry (SAS); Recipient

• Emily Ruth Feierman, PhD student, Neuroscience (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Neeraj Gandhi, PhD student, Computer & Information Science (SEAS); Honorable Mention

• Mark Robert Giovinazzi, PhD student, Physics & Astronomy (SAS); Recipient

• Lavinia Jose Gonzalez, PhD student, Cell & Molecular Biology (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Jose J Gorbea, PhD student, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics (BGS); Recipient

• Mathew Scott Halm, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics (SEAS); Recipient

• Brandon Henry Hayes, PhD student, Bioengineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Yinghui Jane Esther Huang, PhD student, Cell & Molecular Biology (BGS); Recipient

• Laura Jarin-Lipschitz, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics (SEAS); Recipient

• Walter De Ath Wilding Johnsen, PhD student, Chemistry (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Alissa Claire Johnson, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics (SEAS); Recipient

• Dan Ju, PhD student, Cell & Molecular Biology (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Christopher Jung, PhD student, Computer & Information Science (SEAS); Honorable Mention

• Garrett Richard Kaighn, PhD student, Electrical & Systems Engineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Hee Jong Kim, PhD student, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Anna Marina Kofman, PhD student, Physics & Astronomy (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Travis Mark Kotzur, PhD student, Bioengineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Timothy Eng Lee, PhD student, Materials Science & Engineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Kara McGaughey, PhD student, Neuroscience (BGS); Recipient

• Ian Douglas Miller, PhD student, Electrical & Systems Engineering (SEAS); Honorable Mention

• Nina Rocio Montoya, PhD student, Cell & Molecular Biology (BGS); Recipient

• Daniel Mox, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics (SEAS); Recipient

• Victoria Grace Muir, PhD student, Bioengineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Kelsey Nemec, PhD student, Neuroscience (BGS); Recipient

• Erin Michelle Purvis, PhD student, Neuroscience (BGS); Recipient

• Tahiya Salam, PhD student, Electrical & Systems Engineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Margaret Elizabeth Schroeder, Master's student, Bioengineering (SEAS); Recipient

• Christopher Joseph Stabile, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics (SEAS); Recipient

• Jonathan Russell Stensberg, PhD student, Physics & Astronomy (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Katherine Marie Strelau, PhD student, Cell & Molecular Biology (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Mary Szurgot, PhD student, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Lucille Wells, PhD student, Chemistry (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Charlotte Morris Williams, PhD student, Anthropology (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Khadija Deniece Wilson, PhD student, Pharmacology (BGS); Recipient

• Isabel Yannatos, PhD student, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics (BGS); Honorable Mention

• Ethan Zars, PhD student, Chemistry (SAS); Honorable Mention

• Hannah Zlotnick, PhD student, Bioengineering(SEAS); Honorable Mention

• Wanling Zou, PhD student, Psychology (SAS); Recipient

About the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) 

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include 42 Nobel Prize winners, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin, and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Fellows share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are selected. Fellows benefit from a generous three-year annual stipend and educational allowance, opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose.

NSF Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation's technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.

For more information about applying for the NSF GRFP at Penn, visit: www.curf.upenn.edu/content/nsf.