Massachusetts Member Awarded Goldwater Scholarship

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Massachusetts Bay Community College Phi Theta Kappa member Kelsey Ruddick is one of two students from her school to receive the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Named in honor of former Arizona Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the scholarship annually recognizes college students pursuing careers in science, mathematics or engineering.

Ruddick is currently studying forensic DNA science. After she graduates next spring, Ruddick plans to continue her studies at Brandeis University and possibly earn a doctorate in molecular genetics and DNA research.

"I am so proud to be a part of this group of people," said Ruddick. "To walk into school and see the past Goldwater scholars on the wall and to know I am one of them is so wonderful," she continued.

To be considered for the Goldwater Scholarship a student must have at least a 3.8 GPA. Three essays and an extensive research project with an emphasis in the applicant's field of study are also required.

Ruddick's application included a human identification research project based on bones found in a slave burial ground in New Hampshire. She took DNA sequences that proved the bones were of West African descent.

Ruddick credits her professor and mentor Bruce Jackson for her academic success and continued interest in forensic science. He is the one who nominated Ruddick for the Goldwater Scholarship.

"He expects a lot out of students," says Ruddick of Professor Jackson. "He teaches everything hands-on so that we are provided with a great foundation course. We learn techniques on a graduate level that will help us in the future," she said.

Currently Ruddick uses some of the techniques at a biotech firm where she does cell cultures. She will gain more experience when she interns for the FBI labs in Virginia this summer.

Ruddick plans to defer to the scholarship until she transfers to a four-year university. She also has aspirations to pursue Phi Theta Kappa's scholarship opportunities.

"I knew when I accepted Phi Theta Kappa membership I was going to have a lot of opportunities for scholarships. Phi Theta Kappa is such a prestigious organization and provides many resources," said Ruddick.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program annually awards 300 students $7,500 a year for up to two years. Since 1996 Massachusetts Bay Community College has had 14 students receive the prestigious Goldwater scholarships, more than any other two-year college in the country.

Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in American higher education with 1,200 chapters on two-year and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than two million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 100,000 students inducted annually.

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