Clarkson University Student Katelynn Wilton of Syracuse Named Goldwater Scholar

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Photo of Katelynn M. Wilton

POTSDAM, NY (04/13/2010)(readMedia)-- Clarkson University Honors student Katelynn M. Wilton has been named a Goldwater Scholar by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

Wilton is a junior from Syracuse, N.Y., with a computer science and biology double major.

A graduate of Westhill High School, Wilton has been a presidential scholar for all five of her semesters at Clarkson.

"Katelynn possesses extraordinary drive and a clear goal," says Honors Program Director David M. Craig. "She wants to become an M.D./Ph.D. and spend her career working on autoimmune diseases. Katelynn loves problem solving and research, and especially values the logic and the tools that her training in computer science and mathematics give her to attack biological problems."

Wilton's Goldwater essay was based on the idea of adjusting portions of the immune system as a therapy for autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection within model organisms and was performed under the advisement of Prof. Illona Gillette-Ferguson. Wilton currently works in the laboratory of Prof. Craig D. Woodworth on the effect of the human papillomavirus on the body's innate immune system. She intends to enter a medical scientist training program after completion of her degrees at Clarkson.

Including Wilton, 22 Clarkson University students have received this highly coveted award since the scholarships were established in 1986. This is the 11th consecutive year that an Honors Program student has received a Goldwater.

The 278 Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,111 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

Clarkson's Honors Program is an intensive four-year curriculum for exceptionally talented students. The University admits only 30 new students to the Honors Program each year.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in six alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.