Luther College junior Alexander Greiner granted Goldwater Scholarship

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Alexander Greiner, Luther College junior

DECORAH, IA (04/10/2013)(readMedia)-- Luther College junior Alexander Greiner of Fairfield, Iowa, has been granted a $7,500 Goldwater Scholarship based on academic merit. He is one of 271 students to receive the scholarship out of a pool of 1,107 candidates.

The Goldwater Scholars were selected from a field of mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. The scholarship will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

Greiner, the son of Michael Greiner, M.D., and Michele Greiner, Ph.D., of Fairfield, is majoring in biology and chemistry at Luther. He is a 2010 graduate of Fairfield High School.

Greiner aspires to earn his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees through a medical scientist training program. "I am grateful for the support the Goldwater Scholarship will provide as I pursue my passion to conduct translational biomedical research that improves the lives of those suffering from understudied cardiac and neurologic conditions," Greiner said.

"While the Goldwater Scholarship acknowledges my academic achievement, I believe it is equally reflective, if not more so, of the quality of education at Luther College. Luther's commitment to education, in the spirit of the liberal arts, is exemplary. Luther teaches each of us to go beyond our own perspective and discover our role as a member of society. The Goldwater Scholarship will serve as an important steppingstone in my quest to contribute to society as a physician scientist."

Greiner has been named to Luther's dean's list every semester and was granted the Luther College Regent Scholarship-the college's highest merit scholarship. He was also granted a Weston Noble Music Scholarship, the college's highest music scholarship, and the Carleton A. Sperati Memorial Scholarship for excellence in chemistry and music.

He was recently accepted into Beta Beta Beta, the National Biological Honor Society, and will be inducted on April 21.

Greiner attended the University of Arizona Bio5 program as a Research Fellow in January 2012 and the University of Iowa as a Biochemistry Research Fellow in summer 2012.

He earned third prize at the University of Iowa Biochemistry Retreat Poster Competition, and was a presenter at the National American Choral Directors Association 2011 convention and at the Mid-States Consortium for Math and Science Biological Science Research Symposium.

At Luther Greiner served as a guest lecturer with "A Hot Cup of Tea: The Murder of Alexander Litvinenko" in a Political Science course in 2011.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Greiner volunteers at the Decorah Community Free clinic, is a member of the Luther College Health Science Club and is the treasurer for the Luther College American Medical Student Association.

Greiner has been a member of several choral ensembles at Luther including the Luther College Norsemen, Cathedral Choir and Collegiate Chorale.

The academic qualifications of Goldwater Scholars have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 80 Rhodes Scholarships, 118 Marshall Awards, 110 Churchill Scholarships and numerous other distinguished fellowships.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established by Public Law 99- 661 on Nov. 14, 1986. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry 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 premiere undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

Since its first award in 1989, the foundation has bestowed more than 6,550 scholarships worth approximately $40 million. The trustees plan to award about three hundred scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year.