Allegheny College Graduate Meredith Hanlon of Huntingdon, Pa., Receives National Science Foundation Award

MEADVILLE, PA (05/25/2010)(readMedia)-- Recent Allegheny College graduate Meredith Hanlon, of Huntingdon, Pa., has received the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award.

The award recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics related disciplines. Recipients are selected based on their outstanding abilities and accomplishments as well as their potential to contribute to strengthening the vitality of science and engineering in the United States.

Hanlon graduated from Allegheny in 2009 with a major in biochemistry and a minor in writing. She works as a research assistant at the Energy Frontiers Research Center at Penn State University, where she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in plant biology beginning this fall.

"Recognition by the National Science Foundation is an exceptional achievement for Meredith," said Dean of the College Linda DeMeritt. "As a student, she took full advantage of opportunities to conduct collaborative research with Allegheny faculty and present findings on a national stage. We are exceedingly proud of Meredith and grateful for the honor she reflects on the college."

NSF Graduate Research Fellows benefit from a three-year annual stipend along with a cost of education allowance for tuition and fees; a one-time international travel allowance; and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. or foreign institution of graduate education they choose.

Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin and "Freakonomics" co-author Steven Levitt.

The 32nd oldest college in the nation, Allegheny College will celebrate its bicentennial in 2015. Allegheny is among only 16 percent of liberal arts colleges nationally that require independent research and/or original creative work of all graduates.