Sophomore Daniel Haller is the Recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship

This article is a modified version of an article written by Patrick Smith, Marketing Writer and Social Media Manager in the Division of Academic and Student Affairs.

Sophomore Daniel Haller is the recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship.

The Goldwater Scholarship Program was established by the U.S. Congress in honor of former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. According to the Goldwater Foundation web site, “The Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics in the United States, seeks to identify and support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming this Nation’s next generation of research leaders in these fields.”

In addition to his chemical engineering major, Daniel is minoring in both biotechnology and mathematics. He is interested in global health and works as a student researcher in Dr. Nathan Crook’s lab. His research is focused on infectious diseases and developing methods to engineer the human gut microbiome.

Daniel is very involved on campus. He is founder and president of the Science Olympiad Alumni Organization, and leads a team of students in developing event content for the North Carolina Science Olympiad, a nonprofit organization that aims to retract and retain K-12 students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math. He is also an Honors and Scholars Village Fellow and is a founding member and sponsorship committee head for NC State’s Mix, the TEDxNCState planning committee. In addition, he is a Park Scholarship recipient and a member of the University Honors Program.

Off campus, Haller is principal oboist for the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra.

“I am so honored to be awarded a Goldwater Scholarship recipient!” Haller said. “This opportunity will help me achieve my goal of going to graduate school, entering academia, and conducting synthetic biology research with impacts on global health. I am particularly grateful to my mentors—Dr. Nathan Crook, Dr. Robert Grossfeld, and Dr. Elisabeth Brown—for their guidance and to the Park Scholarships program for their constant support and encouragement.”

Competition for Goldwater Scholarships is intense. From an estimated pool of over 5,000 college sophomores and juniors, 1343 natural science, engineering and mathematics students were nominated by 461 academic institutions to compete for the 2020 scholarships. Fifty-nine of the 396 scholarship recipients are majoring in engineering.

Congratulations Daniel!