A Nebraska Wesleyan University junior has been awarded the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Carter Lyons, a mathematics and physics major from Lincoln, Neb., is among just 211 undergraduates in the country to receive the award. Goldwater scholars were selected based on academic merit from a field of 1,280 natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering students. The Goldwater Scholarship provides financial assistance for the remainder of the scholars’ undergraduate careers.
“I first developed an enjoyment of mathematics my junior year of high school, but it flourished once I came to NWU,” said Lyons. “As I took more classes, my enjoyment and desire to learn even more continued to grow.”
While at Nebraska Wesleyan, Lyons has conducted research alongside Assistant Professor of Mathematics Austin Mohr. Last summer Lyons conducted research at Lafayette College in Easton, Penn., through the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. He’s had the opportunity to present his research at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in San Diego, Calif., the Young Mathematicians Conference at Ohio State University, and the Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conference at Southeast Missouri State University. Later this month, he will present at the Central States Mathematics Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the NWU Research Symposium.
This summer he will participate in a research internship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center where he will help build a benchtop model to simulate aortic dissections.
In addition to his academic work, Lyons has been a member of the men’s swim team, Theta Chi Fraternity, Physics Club, Math Club, and Society of Scholars. He plans to pursue a Ph.D in electrical engineering or mathematics.
Lyons, a graduate of Lincoln Southwest High School, is the eighth Nebraska Wesleyan University student to win a Goldwater Scholarship.