Meador selected as Oklahoma State's 18th Goldwater Scholar
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Lydia Meador of Broken Arrow, an Oklahoma State University junior with a triple major
of botany, microbiology/cell and molecular biology, and biochemistry and molecular
biology, has been named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.
Meador is the 18th student from OSU to be selected for this prestigious honor.
Receiving an honorable mention for this year’s scholarship was John Cooper, a Wichita,
Kan., senior who is majoring in chemistry and microbiology/cell and molecular biology.
“This has been an exciting spring semester at Oklahoma State with all of the major national and international scholarships our students are receiving,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “To have a Goldwater Scholar of the caliber of Lydia this year is wonderful. She and John have exciting futures in store for them.”
According to Peggy Goldwater Clay, chair of the board of trustees of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, the 2010-11 Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,111 mathematics, science, and engineering students nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.
"Lydia is highly deserving of this honor,” said Dr. Janette Steets, botany assistant professor. “She is an exceptionally bright, ambitious and dedicated student. In addition to her outstanding academic achievements, she excels in research and will go far in the sciences."
Meador’s career goal is to receive her doctorate in plant genetic engineering and biotechnology and to conduct research in genetic engineering of antibiotics, edible vaccines and other medicinal compounds.
“As a first generation college student, I never dreamed my college experience would involve winning a national award,” Meador said. “I am honored and humbled to be considered one of the many outstanding scholars at OSU.”
“This year’s competition for the Goldwater Scholarship was extremely competitive due to the reduced number of awards and high numbers of applications, making Lydia’s accomplishment even more impressive,” said Dr. Robert Graalman, director of the OSU Office of Scholar Development and Recognition. “She’s worked toward this goal since arriving at OSU, taking advantage of every research opportunity that came her way, and this award affirms her prowess and prospects.”
The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious and competitive scholarship for undergraduate sophomores and juniors who plan to pursue careers in mathematics, natural sciences or engineering, and will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to $7,500 per year. The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established by Public Law 99-661 in 1986 in honor of the late Sen. Barry M. Goldwater.
Meador was one of four OSU students nominated at OSU last fall following a campus-wide competition, according to Graalman.
She was selected as a Niblack Scholar for her senior year, received a Wentz Research Scholarship her junior year, and was an OSU Freshman Research Scholar. She was named the OSU Botany Department Outstanding Senior in 2009.
Meador is the daughter of Gregory and Judith Meador of Broken Arrow and is a 2007 graduate of Union High School.