Two Arkansas undergraduate university students and 13 graduate students have received research fellowship awards from the National Science Foundation this year, totaling nearly $2 million in stipend payments and tuition support.

A total of 14,000 students from around the United States applied for the fellowships, but just 2,000 received them, according to the National Science Foundation.

Each fellowship includes a 3-year, $32,000 annual stipend and $12,000 in tuition support for three years.

Henderson State University senior Cynthia Holland, a biology major, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock senior Mackie O'Hara, an anthropology major, were the only undergraduate students in the state to receive the fellowships.

Jessica R. Scott, assistant director of the Donaghey Scholars Program at UALR, of which O'Hara is a member, said it's even more prestigious for an undergraduate to receive a National Science Foundation fellowship because of the rigorous requirements.

"Undergraduates, graduate students and first-year doctoral students are all eligible to compete for these awards, so her selection is a real testament to Mackie's hard work and preparation here at UALR," Scott said.

"The award was very competitive this year. This is an honor for all of the UALR programs with which Mackie is involved."

She is also the winner of UALR's Edward L. Whitbeck Memorial Award, given each year to an outstanding graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence in scholarship, leadership, citizenship and character.

O'Hara, who is minoring in biology, has accepted an offer to pursue a master's/doctoral degree in biological anthropology at Ohio State University beginning this fall.

"I have to thank the Donaghey Scholars Program and the anthropology, biology, and earth sciences faculty because they provided constant support, resources and ideas," O'Hara said.

At HSU, chemistry professor Martin Campbell, who has worked closely with Holland on research projects, said she is the first student from the university to receive a National Science Foundation fellowship.

Like Scott, Campbell said it's an even greater achievement for Holland because she is an undergraduate student.

"I have to give credit to Cynthia, because she has really worked hard and has done a lot of research and has proven herself worthy of a National Science Foundation fellowship," Campbell said. "She is a hard worker and will go far in her studies."

When she found out she received the fellowship, Campbell, who is minoring in chemistry, said she broke into tears. She is the first in her family to go to college, and receiving the honor "means so much to me and my parents."

"I was so nervous that I wouldn't get it, but the hard work has paid off. It's just a really big thrill."

Campbell plans to attend graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis in the fall.

Graduate students from Arkansas universities who received the 2014 National Science Foundation research fellowships are:

• Jeremy Randall Dunklin, studying chemical engineering, who received his undergraduate degree from Southern Arkansas University and is now attending the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

• Megan Dunn, studying chemical engineering, who received her undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now a graduate student at University of Michigan.

• William Robert Erwin, studying chemical engineering,who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now a graduate student at Vanderbilt University.

• Jessica Helene Hartman, studying biochemistry, who received her undergraduate degree from UALR and is now attending graduate school at UAMS.

• Courtney Leah Hill, studying civil engineering, who received her undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school there.

• Jennifer Lenow, studying cognitive neuroscience, who received her undergraduate degree from Hendrix College and is now attending graduate school at New York University.

• Michael Ross Liederbach, studying electrical and electronic engineering, who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school there.

• Frederick Newton McCollum, studying applied mathematics, who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school there.

• Justin Norman, studying photonic materials, who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

• Trent Allen Rogers, studying computer engineering, who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school there.

• William Theodore Stiritz, studying ecology, who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school there.

• Erik Gron Urban, studying condensed matter, who received his undergraduate degree from Hendrix College and is now attending graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley.

• Douglas Carl Wolf, studying environmental sciences, who received his undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville and is now attending graduate school there.

State Desk on 05/13/2014