Kimbria Blake of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Wins Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

2012 May 15

Chagrin Falls, Ohio, resident Kimbria Blake, a sophomore majoring in biochemistry at Rochester Institute of Technology, has been named a Goldwater Scholar.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program has awarded Blake, the daughter of David and Lynnae Blake of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, $15,000 for her junior and senior years at RIT.

Blake conducts research with professor Suzanne O'Handley in the RIT Department of Chemistry. Her research entails characterizing an enzyme from yeast and comparing it to the homologous virulence factor in the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. She presented her work at the National Meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in her freshman year. Blake plans to obtain her doctorate in microbiology or biochemistry. She envisions a research career in infectious disease. 

Her honors and awards include an RIT Presidential Scholarship, freshman and sophomore awards from the RIT Department of Chemistry, College of Science Summer Research Fellowship, a College of Science Chemistry/Materials Science Research Fellowship and an American Society of Microbiology Summer Research Fellowship.

Blake is a member of the RIT Honors Program and is an RIT Chemistry Research Scholar. She is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Affiliates and the RIT InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is also a tutor and teaching assistant for the chemistry department.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986. The foundation awards scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering. The award is based on academic merit. This year, 282 sophomores and juniors were selected from 1,123 nominees. The foundation also named Colin Axel, from Farmington, N.Y., a Goldwater Scholar, and awarded Samuel Kennedy, from Bristol, Conn., an honorable mention.

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging technology, sustainability, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. RIT enrolls 17,000 full- and part-time students in more than 200 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative-education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation's leading comprehensive universities. RIT is featured in The Princeton Review's 2011 edition of The Best 373 Colleges as well as its Guide to 286 Green Colleges. The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2011 includes RIT among more than 300 of the country's most interesting colleges and universities.

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