Five Grinnell College graduates have been awarded highly competitive graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The prestigious fellowships carry a $30,000 stipend and $10,500 cost of education allowance for up to three years at some of the world's most highly regarded research institutions.

Dr. William Hahn, program director for the NSF graduate research fellowship program, said that having five research fellows is a very high success rate among liberal arts colleges. "Grinnell's success rate with applicants is twice the rate of the overall program," Hahn said. "This places Grinnell within the top 10 of liberal arts colleges in terms of fellowship success rate and demonstrates a high level of preparation in undergraduate science education."

The five Grinnell graduates named NSF Fellows include:

• Adam Booth '04, with a major in physics, is pursuing graduate study in geology at the University of Oregon.
• Natalie Funk '07, with majors in biological chemistry and French, is studying molecular biology at Harvard University.
• Amber Jolly '06, with a major in biological chemistry, is pursuing graduate study in cell biology at Northwestern University.
• Katherine Lewin '05, with a major in biology, is studying neurosciences at Duke University.
• Elizabeth Pekarek '05, with a major in biology, is pursuing graduate study in evolutionary biology at Duke University.

Each of these NSF Fellows conducted undergraduate research while at Grinnell. Eight other alumni were named to honorable mention by the fellows program.

Grinnell, where approximately one-third of students major in science, ranks high nationally in the matriculation of graduates who later complete Ph.D.s in chemistry (6th nationally); biological sciences (9th); psychology (9th); and physics (20th).

NSF Fellows are expected to become experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering, and more than 80 percent of recipients earn a Ph.D. in their chosen field within 10 years of receiving the fellowship.