Departmental News

Posted:  Apr 03, 2023 - 09:40am

Chemistry student Melissa Rudden has been chosen as one of the 2023-2024 Goldwater Scholars, a prestigious honor only 413 students in the U.S. earned this year. The selection pool contained over 5,000 academically strong applicants, from more than 427 schools.

Rudden is a junior student, majoring in chemistry and minoring in professional writing. She is currently researching binuclear complexes for Quantum Information Systems (QIS), and plans to set up a future in nanoscience, which she hopes will include conducting future research on material science, QIS, Quantum Mechanics, and general relativity at national labs.  

“I am so grateful to have been selected as a Goldwater Scholar. I was speechless when I found out.  Being awarded this scholarship strengthens my view that I am on the right path,” Rudden said. “I am now even more committed to becoming a world class scientist who will discover and create the next generation solutions and materials that will help the world to advance.”

She also prioritizes future STEM leaders by tutoring at the Center for Academic Program Support, serving as a chemistry teaching assistant and as an officer for the Lobo Chemistry Club.

She is also a McNair Scholar, a recipient of the Lane Scholarship, ASSURE Fellowship and the Dr. Thomas Whaley Endowed Memorial Scholarship.