Three Women Among the 12 Winners of the 2016 Hertz Fellowships

The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation in Livermore, California, has announced the 12 winners of the 2016 Hertz Fellowships. The 12 Hertz Fellows were chosen from a field of more than 800 candidates. Winners of the prestigious fellowships are awarded full tuition in Ph.D. programs for five years. And they receive an annual stipend.

Preference is given to scholars who have a stated preference to pursue science in the public interest. Over the past 53 years, only 1,200 fellowships have been awarded. But these fellows have started more than 200 companies and have accumulated from than 3,000 U.S. patents.

Robbee Baker Kosak, president of the Hertz Foundation, stated that “far too few of our most talented young Americans are dedicating themselves to leadership careers in science, engineering and mathematics. Yet, leadership in these disciplines is precisely what the United States needs if we are to continue to build a robust economy and protect our national security. Following in the footsteps of Hertz Fellows who have come before them, these young men and women will utilize this fellowship to pursue work that will have a tremendous impact on the future of our country and society as a whole.”

Three of this year’s 12 Hertz Fellows are women:

Rebecca Alford, from Commack, New York, is an undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She will pursue her Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Sarah McFann is a student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She will pursue her Ph.D. at Princeton University in chemical and biological engineering. McFann is from Arlington, Tennessee.

Nicole Michenfelder-Schauser received her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley. She will pursue her Ph.D. in materials science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Michenfeldeer-Schauser is from Santa Barbara, California.