Lone Star College students receive prominent scholarship

HOUSTON, TX -- Lone Star College students Ivey Knebel and Andrew Bierbower were awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship which is awarded to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

“The Goldwater Scholarship is one of the most recognizable STEM scholarships in the nation,” said Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC Chancellor. “These students, along with their professors, are to be applauded for this outstanding achievement.”

Each Goldwater Scholar receives an annual amount equal to the cost of tuition, mandatory fees, books, and room and board, minus the amount of support provided by other sources, up to a maximum of $7,500 per full academic year.

“I am incredibly humbled and honored that I was selected to receive the Barry Goldwater Scholarship,” said Bierbower. “This award is the culmination of the hard work, dedication and passion I have put into my academic career over the past two years.”

An estimated 5,000 college sophomores and juniors were nominated by 433 academic institutions to compete for the 2022 Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Board increased the number of Goldwater Scholarship recipients for the 2022-2023 academic year to 417 college students from across the United States.

“I intend to pursue a career as a forensic geneticist and researcher in women’s genetics and health,” said Knebel. “I want to become a forensic geneticist to ensure quality DNA analysis and to stop wrongful convictions and the social costs that arise from those convictions.”

Knebel and Beirbower join students from Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, Harvard, Duke and Rice as this year’s recipients. Goldwater Scholars have gone on to win an impressive array of prestigious post-graduate fellowships, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship, Hertz Fellowship, DOE Computation Science Graduate Fellowship, and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

“Ivey and Andrew are currently enrolled in The Honors College at Lone Star College which provides students with opportunities like these scholarships,” said Katharine Caruso, Ph.D., Associate Vice Chancellor, LSC Honors and International Education. “Their accomplishments are truly exceptional and we are very proud of them.”

The Honors College at LSC offers a wide range of opportunities for honors students - from incoming freshman wanting to graduate with an Honors AA or Honors AS degree, to high-achieving students seeking to graduate with Honors distinction, to students interested in earning individual honors course credit.

Visit LoneStar.edu/HonorsCollege to learn more about all the advantages The Honors College at LSC has to offer.

“I would be incredibly remiss if I did not thank every mentor and professor I’ve had at Lone Star College, especially Honors College Director Brian Kyser,” said Bierbower. “Since day one, he has encouraged me to reach for higher and higher goals, knowing I had the ability to achieve them even when I felt like I couldn’t.”

Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and has been named a 2021 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education and ranked 35th in Texas in the Forbes ‘America’s Best Employers By State’ list. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.

PHOTO: Lone Star College students Ivey Knebel and Andrew Bierbower were recently awarded the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Pictured (left to right) are The Honors College at LSC students Knebel, who attends LSC-CyFair and Bierbower, who attends LSC-University Park.