Top UB Students Nominated for Prestigious Scholarships

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Five outstanding students from the University at Buffalo have been nominated for the prestigious Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, respectively.

These students and others will be honored at UB's Scholars of Excellence Luncheon on April 1 in the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus. The luncheon will start at 11:30 a.m., and will be hosted by Michael Ryan, vice provost for undergraduate education, with remarks by UB President John B. Simpson.

Claire Lochner is UB's nominee for the Morris K. Udall Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding sophomores and juniors who study the environment and related fields. Udall scholars receive up to $5,000, or the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board.

A resident of Williamsville, N.Y., Lochner is a junior majoring in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics. Her research interests lie in sustainable energy technologies, and she plans to pursue a PhD in electrical engineering. Lochner also is a 2009 Goldwater Scholar and a 2009 UB Presidential Honors Scholar.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is awarded to sophomores and juniors who have outstanding potential and intend to pursue advanced degrees in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The scholarship covers expenses for tuition, fees, books and room and board up to $7,500 annually.

UB's nominees are:

Emmanuel Effah-Appiah, a native of Juansa, Ghana, who is working toward a dual degree in biochemistry and chemistry. Effah-Appiah is a 2009 Grace W. Capen Academic Excellence Award recipient, an Advanced Honors Scholar and a McNair Scholar. He also is a member of the academic affairs committee of UB's Students' Assembly and serves as captain of an intramural soccer team. He intends to pursue an MD/PhD in neuroscience.

Colin Lea of Oswego is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and is president of UB Robotics, an undergraduate engineering club. He performs research in UB's Automation, Robotics and Mechatronics Lab and has been awarded two Zimmer Awards for research on human-robot interaction and haptic device design and control. Lea plans to pursue graduate research in the areas of robotics and interaction.

Jasmine May, of Sanborn, N.Y., is working on a degree in medicinal chemistry. A CSTEP (Collegiate Science & Technology Entry Program) scholar, May previously conducted research in UB's Pharmacology and Toxicology Department. She is a recipient of multiple awards, including the Dale Carnegie Leadership Award, the Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award in Humanities and Social Sciences, the Houston Scholarship and the Provost Scholarship. She plans to pursue an academic career at a research university and investigate drug therapies to treat brain cancer.

Kayla Maxwell of Buffalo recently was accepted into UB's PharmD program. As a freshman, Maxwell was fully funded for her research project on fleas and the spread of the infectious disease, bartonella. Maxwell is the head undergraduate teaching assistant for UB's Department of Cellular Biology, and has accepted a position as a summer research fellow at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. She hopes to earn her PhD at Roswell Park, concurrently with UB's PharmD program.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.