The NSF Graduate Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees. 2,600 Fellowships were awarded this year to graduating seniors and first- and second-year graduate students to ensure the vitality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States. Congratulations to this year’s fellowship recipients and honorable mentions!

OSU Undergraduate Students

Rachel White

• Major: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• OSU Research advisors: Professor Kaeli Hughes and Professor Richard Hughes

Phoenix-Avery Sarian

• Major: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• OSU research advisors: Professor Paul Martini and Professor Wayne Schlingman with supervision from Dr. William Coulton (University of Oxford, Department of Physics)

Alexander Torres

• Majors: Astronomy &Astrophysics and Physics
• OSU research advisor: Professor Klaus Honscheid

OSU Graduate Student

Jack Etheridge (honorable mention)

• First Year Graduate Fellow in the OSU Department of Physics
• Undergraduate institution: Texas A&M University
• Research focus: Condensed Matter Theory

Alumni

In addition to our current students listed above, some of our alumni also received the NSF Graduate Fellowship or an honorable mention:

Ian Harris

• Graduated in May 2025 with a double major in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Currently a graduate student in Nuclear Engineering at OSU.

Sydney Petz

• Graduated in May 2024 with a major in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Currently a graduate student at Michigan State University

Josie Rose

• Graduated in May 2025 with a double major in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Currently a Physics graduate student at Yale University.

Ashley Tarrant

• Graduated in May 2025 with a double major in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Scheduled to begin a graduate program at the University of Colorado-Boulder in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

Dasha Crocker (honorable mention)

• Graduated in May 2025 with a double major in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Currently an Astronomy graduate student at the University of Michigan.

Calder Lenhart (honorable mention)

• Graduated in December 2024 with a double major in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Currently an ASAS-SN Analyst.

Dylan Wells (honorable mention)

• Graduated in August 2025 with a major in Physics.
• Currently a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh.