Former NHMFL Intern Wins Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
May 12, 1999
Contact:
Jeff Simon, (850) 644-8604
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The integrated education programs of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have reached thousands of young people over the last five years, and hundreds of students have had significant one-on-one mentorship experiences in the laboratory. The NHMFL is extremely pleased to announce that one such student–Asa Hopkins, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania–has gone on to win a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for 1999.
Hopkins, a junior at Haverford College, teamed with Dr. Stan Tozer at the NHMFL for two summers: in 1997 after spending a year in London and Australia, and in 1998 between his freshman and sophomore years. Hopkins worked on various high pressure and low temperature experiments.
Upon learning of Hopkins’ success, Tozer remarked, "I felt privileged to work with Asa. His interests are very broad, but he showed a love of physics that I have never seen in someone his age. I handed him the lab keys on the first day and never had a single regret. The first summer he spent preparing numerous experiments for others, but we agreed that he should spend more time the second summer setting up his own experiment and reading as much scientific literature as possible. His appetite for reading proved insatiable. I, and others here at the lab who worked with Asa, look forward to the substantial impact he will make in whatever area of the sciences he eventually pursues."
Hopkins discussed his semiconductor research activities in his Goldwater Scholarship essay and indicated that "this helped a lot with the scholarship...also with getting a good summer research job at the University of Connecticut this summer."
The Goldwater Scholarship is the nation's premier undergraduate award for study in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The scholarship, established in 1986 and named after former Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, is awarded annually to undergraduate sophomores and juniors. It is designed to encourage outstanding students to develop careers in the sciences. 1,181 students were nominated for the 1999 Goldwater Scholarship; 304 awards were made.
Hopkins is the second NHMFL intern to receive this prestigious award. Robert Cox, who worked with Dr. Tim Cross on molecular modeling, won a 1998 Goldwater Scholarship.
Hopkins and Cox share more than just their work experiences at the NHMFL. Both attended Leon High School and took Advanced Placement Physics together. Jim Baker, their teacher, was proud of his past students and their accomplishments. "They were particularly impressive since [my AP Physics class] was their first exposure to physics…I'm happy and proud that these two young men have pursued physics, and doubly so that they have won such a prestigious award."
The NHMFL education program has grown steadily since it was created shortly after the laboratory’s establishment in 1990. Now called the Center for Integrating Research and Learning, the program’s faculty develops and manages a broad spectrum of educational opportunities for students. The center also conducts educational and general public tours and outreach activities, offers continuing education programs for teachers, and develops novel curriculum materials like Science, Tobacco, and You, which was released to teachers across the state of Florida in March, 1999.
