UTulsa student Isa Fite named 2024 Goldwater Scholar

TULSA, Okla., April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Tulsa is pleased to announce that Maria Isabelle “Isa” Fite, a second-year student majoring in physics and applied math, has been awarded a 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship. This prestigious award recognizes exceptional undergraduates studying science, engineering, and/or math disciplines.

“The Goldwater Scholarship provides a level of respect in the scientific community,” said Fite, one of only 508 U.S. college students to receive the award this year.

“We are enormously proud of Isa and her accomplishments,” said UTulsa President Brad R. Carson. “The University of Tulsa’s science, technology, engineering, and math programs are highly regarded. We also root all students in the arts and humanities to ensure well-rounded alumni and offer an enlightening Honors College experience that attracts students of Isa’s caliber.”

Fite thanked her faculty mentors, Applied Professor of Physics Jerry McCoy and Warren Foundation Chair in Bioinformatics Brett McKinney, a theoretical physicist. As a high school student, she attended the university’s monthly Physics Journal Club meetings, organized by McCoy. He invited her to participate in an independent study of particle physics. When Fite was just 17, she was sitting in on research presentations by UTulsa seniors and was thrilled to find that the university students and faculty took her seriously despite the fact that she had not yet finished high school.

“I took note of the understanding Isa displayed in discussing physics concepts such as wave-particle duality and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, even though she had not yet taken foundational coursework in these areas,” McCoy said.

While she applied to other prestigious universities, Fite said, UTulsa “was the best place I could have been,” citing the relationships she has developed with faculty and graduate students and the opportunities to excel in her chosen field. In fall 2022, Fite joined the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge. “The TURC program was instrumental,” she said.

Fite also thanked Terrie Shipley, director of national fellowships, for assisting with the rigorous Goldwater application process. The university, which this year is home to the most National Merit Scholars per capita, devotes significant resources to ensuring high-achieving students have excellent support to reach their goals.

After graduation, Fite plans to pursue a doctorate in theoretical physics. Her goal is to use pure mathematics to conduct research on the intersection of quantum mechanics and gravitational physics.

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SOURCE The University of Tulsa