91传媒鈥檚 Dunne selected for prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 Mississippi State Presidential Scholar and senior mechanical engineering major from Starkville has been selected to receive the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Reese A. Dunne is the 19th Mississippi State student to be recognized with the Goldwater Scholarship since the Goldwater Foundation鈥檚 inception.
This year, 1,256 students from 438 institutions were nominated, with the Goldwater Foundation naming 410 new Goldwater Scholars, including Dunne and four others from Mississippi higher education institutions.
David Hoffman, interim director of the Shackouls Honors College Office of Prestigious External Scholarships, said the Goldwater is one of the nation鈥檚 premier undergraduate scholarships for STEM students with significant research experience and a passion for making important research contributions in graduate school and beyond. He said Dunne is 鈥渃learly one of the best amongst an extremely competitive pool of student researchers from across the country.鈥
鈥淢ississippi State is so proud of Reese鈥檚 accomplishments and excited for him to continue participating in important research,鈥 said Hoffman, who also serves as an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences鈥 Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures.
Hoffman attributed Dunne鈥檚 success to a variety of undergraduate research opportunities, including work with John C. Malone Assistant Professor Lediju Bell as part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates at Johns Hopkins University. Dunne also has conducted research in the labs of Matthew Priddy, 91传媒 assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Dipangkar Dutta, a professor in 91传媒鈥檚 Department of Physics and Astronomy and the university鈥檚 winner of the 2021 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.
Hoffman said Dunne also has received 鈥渆xcellent鈥 mentorship from 91传媒 Professor Tommy Anderson and 91传媒 Associate Professor Don Shaffer, who both teach in the College of Arts and Sciences鈥 Department of English. Anderson, former director of the Office of Prestigious External Scholarships, currently serves as associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences and interim dean of 91传媒 Libraries. Shaffer also serves as mentor to 91传媒鈥檚 Presidential Scholars, recipients of the university鈥檚 most prestigious undergraduate scholarships.
A member of 91传媒鈥檚 cross country and track and field teams, Dunne has benefitted from the honors college鈥檚 support since his freshman year when he enrolled as a recipient of the G.V. 鈥淪onny鈥 Montgomery Presidential Endowed Scholarship. Also receiving the James Carl and Hazel Forbes Endowed Scholarship through the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering, Dunne was one of five nationwide Fulbright U.K. Summer Institute recipients selected in 2020. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, conduct interdisciplinary research on biomedical-based projects and teach at a major research university.
For more on 91传媒鈥檚 Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College and the Office of Prestigious External Scholarships, visit ; the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering at and ; 91传媒 Athletics at .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .