HOLLAND -- Hope College senior Jordan R. Schmidt
of Eagan, Minn., has received a highly-competitive Graduate
Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

It is the fourth time in five years that a current
Hope student has received one of the awards. A total of six
Hope seniors or recent graduates have been recognized in the
program this year: three with fellowships, and three with
"Honorable Mention."

"The NSF Graduate Fellowship is one of the most
prestigious and highly-sought honors to which a young
scientist can aspire," said Dr. James Gentile, who is dean
for the natural sciences and the Kenneth G. Herrick
Professor of Biology at Hope. "To have six of our students
and/or graduates receive awards, or honorable mentions, this
year speaks well of them, of the faculty who trained them
and our program."

The fellowships are awarded to students pursuing
doctorates in the sciences, and only approximately 900 were
awarded nationwide. The fellowships pay tuition and fees of
up to $10,500 and a stipend of $18,000 each year for three
years.

In addition to Schmidt, two members of last year's
Class of 2000 received awards this year: Caroline Diaz, who
is doing graduate work in chemistry at the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and Annalise Van Wyngarden, who
is doing graduate work in chemistry at the University of
California-Berkeley.

The three seniors or recent graduates who received
"Honorable Mention"
recognition are: Christopher Cappa, a 2000 graduate now
doing graduate work in chemistry at the University of
California-Berkeley; Dana Jensen, a 1997 graduate now doing
graduate work at the Institute for Environmental Studies at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Julia Koeppe, a
senior from Fayetteville, Ark., who will attend graduate
school in chemistry in California.

Schmidt is majoring in chemistry, mathematics and
physics, and plans to pursue a doctorate in physical
chemistry at the University of Chicago. His graduate award
tops a particularly distinguished undergraduate career,
according to his advisor, Dr. William F. Polik of the
chemistry faculty.

"J.R. has been our top student in chemistry for
each of the last four years," Polik said. "In addition to
excelling in his classes, J.R. has been extremely creative
in his undergraduate research. He has invented a World Wide
Web interface to computational chemistry that is now in use
at over 100 colleges, universities and companies."

In the spring of 2000, Schmidt received one of
only 309 Goldwater Scholarships awarded nationwide in
support of undergraduates for the 2000-01 school year based
on academic merit.

He was recently named to the college's chapter of
Phi Beta Kappa, and has consistently been named to the
Dean's List. He has also received several honors at the
college through the years, including the Junior Chemistry
Journal Award; the Organic Chemistry Book Award to the
Outstanding Student in Organic Chemistry; the John H.
Kleinheksel Mathematics Award; and a Beckman scholarship for
school-year and summer research.

He is the son of Craig and Linda Schmidt of Eagan.
He is a 1997 graduate of Eagan High School.

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