2026 OSU Goldwater Nominees from left to right: CJ Chavez, Madison Crump, Athena DeGennaro, Cameron Rowles, Noah Unger-Schulz
(Corvallis, OR February 10, 2026) Oregon State University’s National and Global Scholarships Advising office is pleased to announce that five students have been nominated to represent OSU and compete nationally for the 2026 Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Final selection of Goldwater scholarships will be confirmed in spring 2026.
Courtney “CJ” Chavez is a junior in the College of Engineering, majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. CJ, with the goal of earning a PhD in Robotics, has extensive research experience in the field of assistive robotics with OSU’s Social Haptics, Assistive Robotics, and Embodiment (SHARE) Lab. Her long-term goal is to advance the field of assistive technology through research and development for people with disabilities and for the aging and broader populations. In her current work with Dr. Naomi Fitter, she has identified knowledge gaps in social perceptions of robots, and aims to design robots with the ability to better meet human expectations and create positive human-robot interactions.
Madison Crump is an Honors sophomore in the College of Agricultural Sciences majoring in Bioresource Research with options in Biotechnology and Plant Growth and Development and a minor in Chemistry. In the future, Madison will earn her PhD in Evolutionary Biology and serve as a university teaching and research faculty member. She aims to focus her research and teaching on forest biology with a lab focused on the effects of climate change on tree physiology and transpiration rates. She especially looks forward to serving as a mentor for future science and forestry students. Madison has had diverse research experiences including a summer REU through the National Science Foundation at Harvard and her current research with Dr. Christopher Curtin at OSU exploring surface sterilization of grapes.
Athena DeGennaro is a sophomore in the College of Science majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. As a future MD/PhD in cardiology, Athena aims to lead research advancing treatment and prevention of myocardial infarction through patient-centered care. Athena has a strong foundation of research experiences through Brown, Johns Hopkins and OSU where she is currently working with Dr. Lia Danelishvili to research Mycobacterium abscessus, identifying genes necessary for phage susceptibility through DNA extractions, LMPCR, and mutant strain analysis. Athena aspires to be a physician-scientist who transforms the understanding and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
Cameron Rowles is an Honors sophomore in the College of Science majoring in Biology. Cameron aims to earn a DVM/PhD where he hopes to conduct research in biomechanics. He began his interest in biomechanics from a young age, and in high school developed his skills in animal skeleton articulation. At OSU, he began research in the first term of his freshman year in vertebrate archival research, following up on connections he had made with OSU researchers while in high school. Currently, Cameron is conducting research in Dr. Rebecca Terry’s lab using paleontological and archeological records from the Great Basin to reconstruct ancient small mammal communities. He is developing a tool to identify species through tooth characteristics to generate new understanding of ancient human diets, measure climate change, and predict future changes in ecosystems.
Noah Unger-Schulz is an Honors junior in the Colleges of Engineering and Science, double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. In the future, Noah aims to earn a PhD in Applied Mathematics with a focus on combining the ideas of multiphysics and computational mathematics to better help simulate physical phenomena. He hopes to develop mathematical models in partnership with industry professionals and serve as a university professor of applied mathematics. Noah participated in OSU’s competitive undergraduate research program to complete research with Dr. Malgorzata Peszynska, and has two summer research experiences at Los Alamos National Lab.
The OSU Goldwater nomination committee includes faculty from the Colleges of Science and Engineering: Skip Rochefort from Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering; Kari Van Zee, Lauren Dalton, and Juan Vanegas from Biochemistry and Biophysics; and David Hendrix from Biochemistry and Biophysics and Computer Science. Student advising and nominations were coordinated by LeAnn Adam and Becca Otto in the OSU Office of National and Global Scholarships Advising.
Established by Congress in 1986, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation operates an educational scholarship program designed to provide opportunities for outstanding U.S. students with excellent academic records and demonstrated interest in, and potential for, research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship serves as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate. For more information about the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, visit their website: Goldwater Scholarship.
The Goldwater Scholarship is administered at Oregon State University through the National and Global Scholarships Advising Office. For more information about applying for the Goldwater Scholarship or other national and international scholarships, please contact [email protected] and visit National and Global Scholarships Advising.