The Department of Astronomy is pleased to announce that 2 of the 10 scholars as the 2021 cohort of President’s Postdoctoral Scholars are in our community of scholars, Samantha Benincasa and Alexander Stephan. The 10 recipients were selected from a diverse and highly competitive pool of national and international applicants. The cohort's research ranges from dynamics of electrons and photons in quantum condensed matter physics to sociocultural anthropology.

The President’s Postdoctoral Scholars Program, supported by the Office of the President, was launched in January 2018 to attract highly qualified early-career scholars as postdoctoral trainees who will become leaders in their fields. “Advancing scholarship and innovation for the benefit of the communities we serve is at the core of our public land-grant mission. These phenomenal scholars are the embodiment of that mission, and we could not be more proud of all they have accomplished thus far," said President Johnson. "And they’re just getting started. We look forward to working alongside them to address some of our world’s greatest challenges.” 

The new scholars and faculty mentors are:

• Zachariah Addison, advised by Nandini Trivedi, Department of Physics
• Samantha Benincasa, advised by Adam Leroy, Department of Astronomy and the Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
• Marta Bornstein, advised by Alison Norris and William Miller, Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health
• Andrea Fetters, advised by Karen Goodell and Elizabeth Marschall, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
• Jacob Hopkins, advised by Alison Bennett and Bryan Carstens, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
• Augusta Irele, advised by Simone Drake, Department of English, Department of African American and African Studies
• Abhishek Mishra advised by Matthew Anderson and Matthew Sullivan, Department of Microbiology, Department of Microbial Infection & Immunity
• Daniel Nicholson advised by Vincent Roscigno, Department of Sociology
• Alexander Stephan advised by Scott Gaudi and Christopher Kochanek, Department of Astronomy
• Grace Zhou advised by Morgan Liu, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures