A computer science undergraduate student in the MSU College of Engineering has been named the recipient of the nationally competitive Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. MSU has produced a total of 49 Goldwater Scholars.
Andrew McDonald, an Honors College junior, is majoring in computer science in the College of Engineering and statistics, and advanced mathematics in the College of Natural Science.
He is a research assistant for Vaibhav Srivastava in the Distributed Cyber Physical Human Systems Research (D-CYPHER) Laboratory, and Laura Dillon, an emeritus professor of computer science.
McDonald is a recipient of MSU's Alumni Distinguished Scholarship. He is from Hudson, Ohio, and graduated from Hudson High School.
"To be awarded the Goldwater Scholarship is an incredible honor—an honor I'm thrilled to share with the faculty and students of MSU who have shaped my aspirations in research and academia," McDonald said. "I look forward to pursuing a PhD in machine learning and artificial intelligence following my time as an undergraduate, and would like to thank those who have encouraged and empowered my curiosity as a Spartan: my parents, my research mentor Professor Vaibhav Srivastava, and the countless others within the College of Engineering and College of Natural Science I've had the privilege to interact with."
McDonald is one of two national Goldwater Scholars at MSU this spring. The other is Charles Hultquist, an Honors College junior majoring in Physics and Advanced Mathematics in the College of Natural Science. Read more at MSU Honors College.
Each year, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship seeks scholars committed to a career in science, mathematics, or engineering who display intellectual intensity and who have the potential for significant future contribution in their chosen field. Those students are awarded funding for undergraduate tuition and living expenses.
For the 2021 Goldwater Scholarship competition, 1,256 outstanding undergraduates were nominated by 438 institutions. Hultquist and McDonald were among 410 scholars selected. The funding for these awards is a collaboration between the U.S. Congress and the Department of Defense's National Defense Education Program.
The National/International Fellowships & Scholarships (NIFS) Office, administered by the Honors College, helps interested undergraduate and graduate students pursue major national and international opportunities by providing information and direct support throughout the competitive application processes.
Story courtesy of the MSU Honors College.