View source for Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation

{{Short description|American merit-based scholarship awarded to prospective scientists}}
[[File:Barry Goldwater photo1962.jpg|thumb|The scholarship is named for Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] (pictured 1962).]]
The '''Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation''' was established by the [[United States Congress]] in 1986 in honor of former [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] and [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential candidate]] [[Barry Goldwater]]. Its goal is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified [[scientist]]s, [[mathematician]]s, and [[engineer]]s by awarding scholarships to college students who are US citizens or permanent residents and intend to pursue careers in these fields.

The scholarship—one of the most prestigious national undergraduate scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201805/goldwater.cfm|title=The Road to a Goldwater Scholarship|website=www.aps.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-02|archive-date=2019-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402082102/https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201805/goldwater.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201705/goldwater.cfm|title=An Insider’s Look at the Goldwater Scholarship|website=www.aps.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-02|archive-date=2019-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402082739/https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201705/goldwater.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref>—is awarded annually to about 400 college [[Sophomore year|sophomores]] and juniors out of approximately 1200 nominees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 31, 2023 |title=Barry Goldwater Scholarship |url=https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404092139/https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/ |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |access-date=April 4, 2023 |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence in Education Foundation}}</ref> The scholarship is awarded based on merit, and the actual amount given is based on financial need, up to a maximum of $7,500 per academic year. In addition, since at least 2006 until 2018, about 150 exceptional applicants not awarded the Scholarship have been recognized with official Honorable Mentions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.act.org/goldwater/sch-2008.html |title=Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Website |access-date=2009-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916021244/http://www.act.org/goldwater/sch-2008.html |archive-date=2008-09-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Colleges and universities are allowed to nominate only four of their undergraduate students per year for consideration.  

In awarding scholarships, the Foundation considers the field of study, career objectives, commitment, and potential for a significant professional contribution. This is judged by letters of reference, student essays, and prior research experience.  The number of scholarships per region depends on the number and qualifications of the nominees for that region. The regions are defined as each of the 50 [[U.S. states]], the [[District of Columbia]], [[Puerto Rico]], and, considered as a single entity, [[Guam]], the [[United States Virgin Islands]], [[American Samoa]], and the [[Northern Mariana Islands]].

==Leadership==
===Board of trustees===
The board of trustees is composed of 13 members, 8 of which are appointed by the [[president of the United States]] with the consent of the [[United States Senate]]. No more than four of the presidentially-appointed members may be affiliated with the same political party. These members are appointed to terms of six years, but they may continue to serve on the board until a successor is confirmed.<ref name="USC">{{USCode|20|4703}}</ref>

Four trustees are members of Congress, two members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives. One each of these are appointed by the majority leader and the minority leader of the Senate, and the majority leader and the minority leader of the House, respectively. These members may not serve on the board for more than a total of six years.<ref name="USC" />

In addition, the [[U.S. Secretary of Education]], or their designee, serve as an ''[[ex officio]]'' member of the board, though is ineligible to serve as chairman.<ref name="USC" />

===Current board members===
The current board members as of October 10, 2024:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/the-foundation/ |title=Board of Trustees |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=goldwaterscholarship.gov |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Position
! Name
! Party 
! Assumed office
! Term expiration
|-
! Chair
| {{sortname|John H.|Yopp}}
| {{party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{dts|2011|09|26}}
| {{dts|2017|10|13}}
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Stewart|DeSoto}}
| {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{dts|2013|01|01}}
| {{dts|2016|08|11}}
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Dennis|DeConcini}}
| {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{dts|2021|12|18}}
| {{dts|2026|04|17}}
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Peggy Goldwater|Clay}}
| {{party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{dts|1995|04|06}}
| {{dts|2012|06|05}}
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Joseph M.|Green}}
| {{party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{dts|2021|12|18}}
| {{dts|2028|03|03}}
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Charlie|Korsmo}}
| {{party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{dts|2011|09|26}}
| {{dts|2017|10|13}}
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Maria E.|Rengifo-Ruess}}
| {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{dts|2011|09|26}}
| {{dts|2014|02|04}}
|-
! Member
| ''Vacant''
| 
| 
| 
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Kyrsten|Sinema}}
| {{party shading/Independent}} | Independent
| {{dts|2019|03|07}}
| —
|-
! Member
| ''Vacant''
| 
| 
| —
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|Glenn|Grothman}}
| {{party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{dts|2023|12|14}}
| —
|-
! Member
| {{sortname|John B.|Larson}}
| {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{dts|2023|04|10}}
| —
|-
! Member<br>''(ex officio)''
| {{sortname|Miguel|Cardona}}
| {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{dts|2021|03|02}}
| —
|}

===Nominations===
President [[Joe Biden|Biden]] has nominated the following to fill seats on the board. They await Senate confirmation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/quick-search/nominations?wordsPhrases=Barry+Goldwater+Scholarship+and+Excellence+in+Education+Foundation&wordVariants=on&congresses%5B0%5D=118&nomCivil=on&nomOther=on&pnNumbers=&nomineeNames=&positions=&organizations=&stateTerritories%5B0%5D=any&nominationAction=&dates=datesReceivedInSenate&dateOperator=equal&startDate=&endDate=&dateIsOption=yesterday&qs_expand=false |title=Quick Search Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=Congress.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Name !! Party !! Term expires !! Replacing
|-
| {{sortname|Barbara George|Johnson}} || {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic || {{dts|2026|02|04}} || {{sortname|Maria E.|Rengifo-Ruess}}
|-
| {{sortname|Paul|Herdman}} || {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic || {{dts|2026|08|11}} || {{sortname|Gwendolyn|Boyd}}
|}

===Foundation President and Executive Secretary===
The board appoints an Executive Secretary of the foundation, who serves as the chief executive officer of the foundation and carries out its functions, subject to the supervision and direction of the board.<ref>{{USCode|20|4709}}</ref>

Dr. John Mateja has served as the third president of the foundation since 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/dr-john-mateja/ |title=Biographical Synopsis — Dr. John Mateja, Goldwater Foundation President and Executive Secretary |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=goldwaterscholarship.gov |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref>

====Past presidents====
The past presidents and executive secretaries of the foundation:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/the-foundation/ |title=Emeritus Presidents |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=goldwaterscholarship.gov |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref>
* Dr. W. Franklin Gilmore (2012–2015)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/frank-gilmore-the-barry-goldwater-scholarship-foundations-second-president-passes-away/ |title=Frank Gilmore, The Barry Goldwater Scholarship Foundation’s Second President, Passes Away |author=Peggy Goldwater Clay |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=goldwaterscholarship.gov |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref>
* Col. Gerald J. Smith (1988–2011)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gerald-Smith-Obituary.pdf |title=First Goldwater Foundation President, COL Gerald J. Smith (USAF, Ret), PASSES AWAY |author=Peggy Goldwater Clay |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=goldwaterscholarship.gov |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref>

== Goldwater scholars by university statistics ==
The table below represents the top 20 universities based upon the number of Goldwater Scholars they have produced as of March 22, 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FOUR K-STATE STUDENTS WIN 2006 GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIPS |url=http://www.math.ksu.edu/events/ksucomp/goldwater/goldwtr06.htm |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=Department of Mathematics, Kansas State University |archive-date=2012-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318141621/http://www.math.ksu.edu/events/ksucomp/goldwater/goldwtr06.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Ranking by Number of Goldwater Scholars
!University Name
!Number of Goldwater Scholars
|-
|1.
|[[Princeton University]]
|64
|-
|2.
|[[Harvard University]]
|60
|-
|3.
|[[Duke University]]
|58
|-
|4.
|[[Kansas State University]]
|57
|-
|5.
|[[University of Chicago]]
|53
|-
|6.
|[[Pennsylvania State University]]
|52
|-
|7.
|[[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]]
|51
|-
|7.
|[[California Institute of Technology]]
|51
|-
|9.
|[[Stanford University]]
|49
|-
|10.
|[[Johns Hopkins University]]
|46
|-
|11.
|[[University of Virginia]]
|45
|-
|11.
|[[Washington University in St. Louis]]
|45
|-
|11.
|[[Montana State University]]
|45
|-
|14.
|[[Cornell University]]
|43
|-
|14.
|[[University of Michigan]]
|43
|-
|14.
|[[Brown University]]
|43
|-
|17.
|[[Northwestern University]]
|41
|-
|17.
|[[University of Tulsa]]
|41
|-
|17.
|[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
|41
|-
|17.
|[[University of Kansas]]
|41
|-
|17.
|[[Yale University]]
|41
|}

==Change in number of scholarships awarded, 2019==

In 2019, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation partnered with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs (NDEP) to dramatically increase the number of scholarships offered from the historical average of 15-20% of nominees at the national level to over 40%. This awarded a Goldwater scholarship to all students who would have received an Honorable Mention in previous years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/ |title=2019 Scholar Press Release |website=goldwater.scholarsapply.org |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=2019-08-24 |archive-date=2019-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827194815/https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Changes implemented in 2020==

* Nomination materials will now be reviewed by discipline instead of state of residence.

* Four-year schools that present a transfer student as a nominee can also nominate an additional (5th) student.

* Institutions cannot reduce a student's institutionally-controlled scholarship funding after a student receives the Goldwater award.

* The foundation will no longer reduce a student’s Goldwater award if the student receives additional scholarship funding during the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/new-for-2020/ |title=New for 2020 |website=goldwater.scholarsapply.org |publisher=Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation |access-date=2019-08-24 |archive-date=2019-08-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824231437/https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/new-for-2020/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.act.org/goldwater Goldwater Scholarship] at ACT.org
* [https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/ Goldwater Scholarship] at scholarsapply.org

{{Barry Goldwater}}

[[Category:Awards established in 1986]]
[[Category:Scholarships in the United States]]
[[Category:Barry Goldwater]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in the United States]]