UMaine Honors Students Continue to Win Awards
Contact: Emily Ann Cain, Coordinator of Advancement, Honors College, Phone: 207-581-3308
ORONO — Students in the University of Maine Honors College have successfully competed in prestigious undergraduate scholarship competitions at the national level every year since 2003. In 2003, 2004, and 2006 Honors students were honored with Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, and in 2005, another Honors student was awarded a Morris K. Udall Scholarship.
Erik Perkins, UMaine Class of 2007, is a 2006 recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Award. The Barry M. Goldwater Excellence in Education Foundation gives up to 300 awards each year to eligible sophomores and juniors throughout the United States. Awards are made on the basis of merit and each award covers expenses, including tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to a maximum of $7,500. Eligible students are full-time sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, engineering, or the natural sciences.
Perkins, a junior from Albion, a double major in physics and mathematics, is the third Honors College student in four years to win the Goldwater Award. He was preceded by Bill Olver in 2004 and Adam Burgoyne in 2003. Oliver, from Winterport, Maine, graduated in 2005 with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a minor in chemistry and microbiology, and a second degree in biochemistry. He is now in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where he is working toward a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Burgoyne, from Enfield, graduated in 2004 with degrees in Molecular Biology, biochemistry, and French, and a minor in Microbiology. He now lives in Cleveland, Ohio attending Case Western Reserve University, where he is in the M.D./Ph.D. Medical Science Training Program, studying Molecular Biology and Microbiology in addition to medicine.
Another Honors student, Julia McGuire, was a 2005 recipient of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship Award. The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation awards up to 80 scholarships to qualified undergraduate students who have an interest in, and potential for, careers in fields related to the environment, Native American Health care, and tribal public policy. The award is up to $5.000 and covers tuition, fees, books, and room and board. McGuire is a senior from Augusta, and will graduate this May with a degree in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, with a concentration in Resource and Environmental Policy.
The Honors College started in 2002, transitioning from the University’s highly successful Honors Program, which dated back to the early 1930s. With a total enrollment of 500 in 2002, the Honors College has grown to almost 700 students enrolled in its rigorous comprehensive four-year curriculum, with over 80 students graduating this May having completed their undergraduate research theses. More information on the Honors College can be found at: www.honors.umaine.edu.