Celebrating student awards and scholarships
Each year, students in Mizzou’s Department of Physics and Astronomy earn recognition for their academic achievement, research, and service. From prestigious scholarships and fellowships to national awards and research honors, these accomplishments reflect the dedication and curiosity that define our student community. Many of these opportunities are made possible through the generous support of alumni and faculty who invest in the next generation of scientists and scholars.
Undergraduate Student Scholarships
Paul E. Basye Undergraduate Scholarship
Julianna Bayless, Mathieux Harper, Ashley Morrison
Samuel S. Laws Scholarship
Mathieux Harper
Donald L. and Lona Lewis Packwood Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship Fund in Physics
Juliana Bayless
Melvin Y. Mora Undergraduate Scholarship Fund
Ashley Morrison
Clifford W. Tompson Scholarship in Physics
Vishvi Aurora, Carter Woods
Graduate Student Scholarships
Rose Marie Dishman Endowed Scholarship in Physics
Tapesh Gautam, Arash Ghobadi, Gourab Nandi
James L. and Dora D. Fergason Fund for Excellence in Physics
Ashan Gunarathna, Kristopher Luck, Briana Montalvo, Ragheer Yeassin
Newell S. Gingrich Physics Scholarship Fund
Dilan Gamachchige, Indeewari Kariyapperuma, Bangzheng (Tom) Sun
Newell S. Gingrich Physics and Astronomy Endowment
Dayton Simpkins, Kishlay Singh
Eli Stuart Haynes and Nola Anderson Haynes Scholarship Fund
Harold Diaz-Quiroz
Ernest W. Landen Fellowship in Physics
Shakeila Davis, Pavel Morales
B. H. Rose Endowment Fund
Bipin Bhattarai
Guy Schupp Scholarship Fund
Connor Nance
Armstrong Physics Endowment
Stephen Klue, Gourab Nandi
Letcher Graduate Student Scholarship
Jenna Bologa, Dominic Dalba, Bradley Faison
O. M. Stewart Scholarship
Abhi Abhijeet, Mohammed Abousetit, Abeeb Ajibade, Dallar Babaian, Diya Bansal, Dillon Balthrop, David Beckwitt, Erin Brady, Amarnath Chakraborty, Geroge Doering, Ehsan Faridi, Pousali Ghosh, John Horne, Aparna Joshi, Moudip Nandi, Akansha Negi, Ishan Pathak, Prativa Sharma, Deepesh Sigdel, Teja Teppala, Bibek Tiwari , Mari Tsumuraya, Mitch Vaninger, Bo Yang, Fatemah Zohra
These fellowships, scholarships, and awards are made possible due to funds generously established and supported by our alumni and faculty.
Some funds do not have scholarships awarded every year.
Department Graduate Student Awards
Ron Boain and Catherine Rangel-Boain Dissertation Awards (fall 2024)
Randy Burns (first place), Ryan Smith (second place)
Dorina Kosztin Memorial Award
Dallar Babaian, Creighton Lisowski
Harry E. Hammond Teaching Assistant Award
Mohamed Abousetit, Stephen Klue, Marek Spader
Ron Boain and Catherine Rangel-Boain Travel Award
Abeeb Ajibade, Amarnath Chakraborty, Clayton Connor, Anthony Dorhauer, Arash Ghobadi, Avinash Sah
Carl and Brynn Anderson Travel Award
Dallar Babian, Dillon Balthrop, Jacob Cook, Jenna Bologa, Tapesh Gautam, Pousali Ghosh, Stephen Klue, Creighton Lisowski, Sadie Nickles, Deepesh Sigdel, Mari Tsumuraya
Spotlight on our Scholarship Funds
This is the first year that student awards were presented from the Letcher Graduate Student Scholarship Fund. John H. Letcher III graduated with a PhD in Physics from our department in 1963. He worked for McDonald Douglas, Monsanto, and other companies in industry, and was later was a professor of computer science at the University of Tulsa. Dr. Letcher passed away in 2023. We appreciate that he generously included our department in his legacy planning, benefitting our current and future students.
Vicki Kuhn receives the Graduate Professional Council (GPC) Excellence in Research award from Jessica Osaze, past president of GPC
Graduate student Vicki Kuhn received the 2025 Mizzou Graduate Professional Council Excellence in Research Award. This award honors a graduate or professional student who has demonstrated a sound understanding of their field of study and has made contributions to the field through their research. Vicki’s advisor is Yicheng Guo.
Graduate student Gourab Nandi received the American Astronomical Society FAMOUS (Funds for Astronomical Meetings: Outreach to Underrepresented Scientists) Travel Grant which supported his travel to 246th American Astronomical Society Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. He also received the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award-Honorable Mention, for his poster presentation at the meeting recognizing exceptional student research.
Graduate student Amarnath Chakraborty was accepted with the Quantum Innovation Center by IBM (Mizzou-QIC) for its competitive inaugural summer internship program. Mizzou-QIC is a hub for quantum research, education, and innovation at MU and across the MU System. Amarnath was accepted to present at a Quantum Developer Conference hosted by IBM. Amarnath’s advisor is Givanni Vignale.
Graduate Student Teja Teppala was selected in March as one of the recipients of the Mizzou 18 award. This award is dedicated to honoring 18 University of Missouri graduate and professional students in the last year of their degree eligibility, chosen for their research, collaboration with faculty and staff, and their demonstrated leadership with undergraduate students. Teja was also selected to represent Mizzou Graduate School at the 2025 Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) Workshop held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in April. Teja’s advisor is Yicheng Guo.
Senior physics major Donavan Flagg receive an award at the Show Me Research week April 2025 for "Measuring the pitch angle of distant galaxies”. Donovan is mentored by Yicheng Guo.
Senior physics major Ellie Gates received the University of Missouri Award for Academic Distinction in 2025. This award recognizes extraordinary intellectual curiosity, seeking knowledge beyond the classroom, sharing that knowledge with public audiences, and contributing to the academic atmosphere at the university. Ellie works with Yicheng Guo.
