Two Park Scholars have been named National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows.

Katya Casper and John Rhoden (both 2007) have both been awarded NSF fellowships. Several other Park Scholars and alumni received honorable mentions: Justin Brockman (2006), John Kelly, Wes Overton (2007), Danielle Proffitt (2006) and Katie Watlington (2006).

The Graduate Research Fellowships provide three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based masters or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are at the early stages of their graduate study.

Katya studied aerospace engineering and served as secretary and president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The Kingsport, TN, native led a senior design team to build a small turbojet powered aircraft. She also served as secretary of Tau Beta Pi and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Gamma Tau honor societies. During college, she continued studying piano, performing at Meredith College. Katya will continue her studies at Purdue University.

John is a chemical engineering major who also studied abroad in Valencia, Spain. At NC State, he volunteered with the Open Door Clinic, Fiesta del Pueblo and Service Raleigh, and was an officer in the cycling club. With his Park faculty mentor, Dr. Jason Haugh, John studied signal transduction networks related to tissue wounding and cancer metastasis, presenting papers over the spring and summer of 2006. He will pursue a doctorate at MIT.

The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 1,000 graduate fellowships. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation.