Four students win Goldwater

For the fourth straight year, four Duke students - juniors Lauren Childs, Ethan Eade and Linda Zhang and sophomore Margaret Wat - won the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in Science, Mathematics and Engineering, administrators announced Wednesday.

The $7,500 scholarship is a merit-based award given to undergraduates planning research careers in mathematics, engineering or the natural sciences. Up to 300 students nationwide win the award each year.

Childs, a New Jersey native double-majoring in mathematics and chemistry, is working toward a doctorate in applied mathematics. Eventually, she hopes to do research on mathematical immunology or computational biology at a university. Mary Nijhout, an associate dean in Trinity College, said in a statement that Childs is now working on "developing mathematical models of desirable genetic changes during an immune response."

Eade, a computer science and mathematics double major from Maryland, aims to earn a doctorate and become a professor of computer science. "I applied because it matches pretty much exactly what my academic interests are," Eade said, adding that if he does not become a professor, he would like to do computer-oriented research. "I like the academic setting, and I like the idea of exploring for the sake of exploring."

Wat, a biology and chemistry double major from North Carolina, is striving to work mainly in drug design and development and combine a career in research with academic medicine.

Upon hearing the news that she had won, Wat said, "I was surprised, but I am pretty religious, and I have been praying to God, so I just want to thank him for that." Typically, only one sophomore a year at Duke wins a Goldwater Scholarship.

Zhang, a native of Tennessee, is a biomedical engineer who is gearing her work to an M.D./Ph.D. degree in cell or molecular biology.

"I was surprised that I got the Duke nomination because, of the people I knew who applied, everyone was very qualified. But once Duke nominates, the next part isn't as surprising," Zhang said, explaining that each school is allowed to nominate at most four students to the national scholarship foundation, so students must first pass through a preliminary application process.