TB
Taylor Barrett
  • chemistry
  • Class of 2015
  • Middletown, PA

Taylor Barrett wins Goldwater Scholarship

2014 May 8

Taylor Barrett, a third-year chemistry major in Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Science, won an award from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program.

She will receive $7,500 for her senior year at RIT. She was among 283 sophomores and juniors selected from 1,166 nominees. The Goldwater Scholarship is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards given to undergraduates committed to pursuing careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering.

Barrett, from Middletown, Pa., has conducted research since her freshman year. She has created peptide scaffolds for targeted multi-modal imaging agents with Hans Schmitthenner, research scientist in the RIT School of Chemistry and Materials Science, and has presented her work at the Rochester Academy of Sciences and the World Molecular Imaging Congress.

Her awards include an RIT Merit Scholarship, RIT School of Chemistry and Materials Science Outstanding Sophomore Award, two RIT Summer Fellowships and a World Molecular Imaging Congress travel grant.

Barrett is a member of the RIT Honors Program and is an RIT Chemistry Research Scholar. She is an active community member who has served as secretary for the House of General Science, as a peer adviser for RIT's Year One Program, an orientation assistant and operations manager for New Student Orientation, and as a teaching assistant for Quantitative Chemical Analysis and Chemical Separations.

Barrett plans to earn her Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry and pursue a career conducting research in biomedical imaging or drug targeting and teaching at the university level.