Boilermakers offered prestigious awards for excellence 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue is proudly celebrating students and alumni who have recently been selected to receive competitive external scholarships, fellowships and awards that support academic, research, leadership, public service and teaching pursuits throughout the country and around the globe.

Beinecke Scholarship

The Beinecke Scholarship provides funding and mentorship to outstanding college juniors who have demonstrated superior scholastic achievement and intend to pursue advanced graduate study in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Approximately 145 institutions are invited to nominate students for the scholarship annually. This year, 16 Beinecke Scholars were selected, and 2026 marks the second time a Purdue student has been selected in three years.

Fern Rice, now a senior from Columbus, Indiana, is majoring in the history of science, technology and medicine; history honors; and insect biology in the colleges of Agriculture and Liberal Arts. Rice will use the award to pursue graduate education in the history and philosophy of science, continuing her research on eugenics in the mid-20th century alongside museum training.

Fulbright U.S. Student Program award

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest and most prestigious U.S. exchange program. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the program provides grants ranging from eight to 12 months for graduating college seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study, conduct research or teach English abroad. Fulbright alumni have included 63 Nobel laureates, 40-plus heads of state and 94 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many more have become cultural icons. Purdue students and alumni who were offered 2026 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants include:

Joe Badgley, from Wheaton, Illinois, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2025 with majors in German and global studies. Badgley will complete an English teaching assistantship in Germany.

Kendall Daniels, from Indianapolis, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2024 in natural resources and environmental science. Daniels will conduct research on melting permafrost and the biogeochemical impacts on arctic plant productivity in Sweden.

Haseung Jun, from West Lafayette, earned a bachelor’s degree in May 2026 in mechanical engineering. On a Fulbright to France, Jun plans to earn a master’s degree from the University of Montpellier.

Mallika Keralavarma, from Munster, Indiana, earned a bachelor’s degree in May 2026 with majors in economics and political science. Keralavarma will complete an English teaching assistantship in South Korea.

Sihun Kim, from Springfield, Virginia, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2023 in electrical engineering. Kim’s research project, “Role of Intellectual Property Rights on Startup Incubation and Acceleration,” will be completed in Indonesia.

Victoria Lopez, from Oceanside, California, who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2025 in English literature, will complete an English teaching assistantship in South Korea.

Olivia Palepoi, from Draper, Utah, is a PhD student in the College of Liberal Arts’ Department of Anthropology. Palepoi will investigate the representation of Samoan collections as “measina” within museum collections and archives in New Zealand.

Autumn Reynolds, from Michigan City, Indiana, earned a master’s degree in public health in May 2026. Reynolds, who is also a Purdue University Beering Scholar, will complete an English teaching assistantship in Bulgaria.

Jehan Shalabi, from Patterson, New Jersey, is a PhD student in the College of Engineering. Shalabi’s research, titled “The Development of a Short-Wave Infrared Multispectral Micro Camera for Space Exploration,” will be completed in France.

Barry Goldwater Scholarship

The Goldwater Scholarship is the nation’s premier undergraduate scholarship for students studying natural sciences, engineering and mathematics and is presented to sophomores and juniors planning to pursue doctoral studies and careers focused on research. Purdue’s three 2026 Goldwater Scholars are Charles Behrman, Shreya Krishnan and Ishaan Singh, as previously announced in Purdue Today.

Boren Fellowship

The Boren Fellowship is part of the National Security Education Program and funds graduate students’ intensive study of language and research for 12 weeks to one year in world regions critical to U.S. interests. Boren Fellows are motivated to pursue public service careers and are recognized for their commitment to long-term overseas study and national security. This year, one graduate student from Purdue was among the 97 graduate students named Boren Fellows nationwide.

Tovia Owens, from Soldotna, Alaska, is pursuing a Master of Science in agricultural and biological engineering. She will complete her fellowship in Indonesia, where she aims to work with the U.S. and Indonesian governments on capacity-building and training programs that align with her academic background in engineering and natural science.

Astronaut Scholarship

Funded by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a nonprofit organization created in 1984 by the surviving Mercury Seven astronauts, the Astronaut Scholarship is awarded to sophomores and juniors who demonstrate academic excellence, curiosity and leadership and intend to pursue research or advance their fields upon earning their degrees. Purdue is one of only 54 universities with Astronaut Scholars in 2026, and this year, four Purdue students received Astronaut Scholarships — a first for any institution.

Cristian Barinaga, a senior from Houston, is majoring in electrical engineering in the College of Engineering and John Martinson Honors College. Barinaga, who is also a Stamps Scholar, has multiple research experiences, including in professor Chi Hwan Lee’s lab, where he helped develop a tracking system to analyze large datasets and measure the bounce rate of a ball impacting a novel tough polymer for wearable applications.

Charles Behrman, a senior from Muncie, Indiana, is majoring in nuclear engineering in the College of Engineering and John Martinson Honors College. Behrman has conducted research in professor Allen Garner’s lab and Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he’s gained experience studying plasma behavior and modeling using particle-in-cell codes.

Shreya Krishnan, a senior from Carmel, Indiana, is majoring in biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering. For the past three years, Krishnan has collaborated with professor Jianing Li to conduct research that uses molecular dynamics simulations and modeling to investigate the activation mechanisms of the adenylyl cyclase 1 protein, which is associated with neurological chronic pain disorders.

Ishaan Singh, a senior from Carmel, Indiana, is majoring in honors physics and biochemistry (chemistry) in the College of Science and John Martinson Honors College. Singh, who is receiving the Astronaut Scholarship for the second consecutive year, has conducted research focused on the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopic techniques in professor Chi Zhang’s lab and developed computational methods for fluorescence-lifetime and super-resolution microscopy in professor Jing Lu’s lab.

Gilman Scholarship

Awarded by the U.S. Department of State, the Gilman Scholarship offers grants to help outstanding U.S. undergraduate students with high financial need pursue academic studies and professional internships abroad. The program aims to develop a generation of future American leaders. Nationwide, 9.4% of applicants were offered Gilman Scholarships during the most recent cycle.

Ethan Espinoza, a senior majoring in integrated business and engineering in the Mitch Daniels School of Business, studied in Greece and Turkey during summer 2026.

Sydney Gwidt, a senior majoring in English education in the College of Education, studied in Morocco during summer 2026.

Morgan Hamilton, a senior majoring in aquatic sciences in the College of Agriculture, studied during summer 2026 in Turks and Caicos.

Evan Haws, a senior majoring in kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Sciences, studied in Ireland during summer 2026.

Nikita Hovyadinov, a junior majoring in computer science in the College of Science, plans to study abroad in Italy.

Hannah Mendel, a senior majoring in biomedical health sciences in the College of Health and Human Sciences, studied in Cambodia in summer 2026.

Philip Salvador, a junior majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts, is currently studying abroad in the United Kingdom.

Connor Sun, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, studied in Australia and New Zealand in summer 2026.

Lauren Toepp, a junior majoring in wildlife sciences and aquatic sciences in the College of Agriculture, studied in Sweden in summer 2026.

Purdue faculty members interested in supporting applications for prestigious external awards may contact Purdue’s National and International Scholarships Office. Nominations for these awards are supported by the National and International Scholarships Office, which is housed in the John Martinson Honors College and open to all Purdue students and alumni.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a research institution ranked among the top 10 public universities in the United States. More than 111,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. As a land-grant university committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free.