Fall 2024 DEPARTMENT NEWS
Perfect Chemistry: Two UTC Young Alums Land Research Fellowships Two recent graduates of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Department of Chemistry and Physics have been awarded prestigious national fellowships. Christine Rukeyser, an Innovation in Honors student in the UTC Honors College who received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in December 2023, and Bre-Anna Willis, recipient of a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in December 2022, have been selected for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)—a highly
competitive program that supports outstanding graduate students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Rukeyser, mentored by UTC Assistant Professor of Chemistry Meredith Barbee, will begin a Ph.D. program at Northwestern University in the fall. She is currently a postbachelor’s research associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Willis was mentored by Associate Professor of Chemistry John Lee during her time as a UTC undergraduate. She is now a Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Connecticut. According to its website, the purpose of the NSF GRFP is to help ensure the quality, vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support, including
an annual stipend of $37,000. “The NSF GRFP is supporting a new generation of engaged scientists who will make their mark on the world,” said Dr. Trey Straussberger, director of the UTC Office of National Scholarships. “For UTC, which serves a wide range of students, to have two former students receiving the award in one year is an amazing accomplishment and reflects the strong and engaged mentorship that faculty—in this case, the faculty in the chemistry department—provide for our undergraduates. “When you see the results pop up that you had two different students who won, it’s just a moment of joy and elation. You know that this scholarship is going to change these students’ lives.”
UTC chemistry alums Christine Rukeyser, left, and Bre-Anna Willis have been selected for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Photos by Angela Foster.