Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Strauskulage, Usman Honored by Goldwater Foundation

Tuesday, May 6, 2014, By Kelly Homan Rodoski
Share
AwardsStudents

Junior Luke Strauskulage has been named as a 2014-15 Goldwater Scholar. Sophomore Samantha Usman was recognized with a Goldwater Honorable Mention.

Goldwater Scholars are selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. Virtually all have as their degree objective to obtain a Ph.D. The scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

The Goldwater Scholarship Program, facilitated by the Goldwater Foundation, honors Sen. Barry Goldwater (1909-1998), five-term Republican senator from Arizona (1953-65 and 1969-87) who was his party’s nominee in the 1964 presidential election. The Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate award of its type, was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Since its first award in 1989, the foundation has bestowed 7,163 scholarships worth approximately $46 million dollars.

Luke Strauskulage

Luke Strauskulage

Strauskulage, of Mt. Cobb, Pa., is a biotechnology major in the College of Arts and Sciences with a minor in education studies and is in the Renée Crown University Honors Program. He plans to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biology, and coordinate biomolecular teaching and research at the university level.

“This will strike a balance between my passion for science and education,” says Strauskulage. “I will personally be able to continue learning more about molecular biology while helping others to learn more about science as well.”

As a first-year student, Strauskulage worked as a research assistant in the laboratory of Jon Zubieta, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, where he studied solid state coordination chemistry. He is currently working a research assistant in the lab of Ramesh Raina, associate professor and chair of the Department of Biology. There, he is studying the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate plant-pest interactions and the functional genomics of cell signaling in plants. He has presented preliminary data at internal university undergraduate research symposia and is planning to publish his work with small defense-associated proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana.

At the University, Strauskulage is also a member of the Mock Trial team and the University’s Quidditch club sport team.

“Luke not only excels on the bench, he is also an excellent young scientist,” says Raina. “What sets him apart from other undergraduate students is that he is a careful reader and has an analytical young mind. He can easily understand difficult scientific concepts and design very elegant experiments to address a complex question. He is an extremely smart young scientist.”

Samantha Usman

Samantha Usman

Usman, of Pittsburgh, is a sophomore majoring in physics and mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences and part of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in astrophysics, leading to a faculty position at a research university, and conduct research in gravitational-wave astrophysics.

At the end of her freshman year, Usman became involved with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and began working with Duncan Brown, associate professor of physics. Within the lab’s research Usman analyzed and helped to interpret data. She continued her work with LIGO this year as a research assistant and took an independent study course to learn more of the theoretical ideas behind gravitational waves.

“This combination allows me to focus on two main aspects of the project: understanding the theoretical physics driving the experiment and the process by which observations work,” says Usman. “In the research portion of my work, I focus on data analysis and how to improve the algorithms being used. In my independent study class, I explore the physics behind the project. This combination allows me to improve my overall understanding of LIGO and help increase my contribution to the project’s scientific goals.” She is working on a paper for future publication.

“Samantha’s combination of excellent intellectual ability, academic maturity and communications skills place her in the top 1 percent of undergraduate students that I have worked with in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration,” says Brown. “She has a stellar scientific career ahead of her.”

At the University, Usman is also a member of University 100, an International Young Scholars mentor and tutor, and a member of the Society of Physics.

Students interested in the Goldwater Scholarship should contact the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising at http://nationalscholarships.syr.edu/.

  • Author

Kelly Rodoski

  • Recent
  • Student’s Mobile Upcycled Clothing Business Turns Trash Into Treasures
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • Q&A for “Will Work for Food,” a new book exploring labor and the food chain
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Ellen Mbuqe
  • Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency
    Thursday, August 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Welcome Week 2025: What You Need to Know
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By Kathleen Haley
  • How Otto the Orange Spent Their Summer Vacation (Video)
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Heartfelt Gift Recognizes Accomplished Alumna and 3 Generations of Orange

William Pelton and Mary Jane Massie have created the Barringer Pelton Public Service Graduate Scholarship to honor their niece, Jody Barringer ’95, L’98, G’08 (M.P.A.), and support future public servants. After working for a few years as an attorney focused…

Families Offer Words of Wisdom During Welcome Week Move In (Video)

Nearly 4,300 new undergraduate students arrived on campus this week, many of them with families and cars filled to the brim. As families help their children settle into their home away from home, they’re also sharing advice for the year…

Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency

With a GoPro strapped to his helmet and a microphone clipped to his bike, Chaz Antoine Barracks spent the summer pedaling through Homer, New York, transforming everyday encounters into both scholarship and art. The filmmaker, media scholar and postdoctoral fellow…

The New York State Fair: Everything You Need to Know

Late August in Central New York not only means the return of students to the Syracuse University campus, but also the return of the New York State Fair. The fair is a 13-day festival of entertainment, agricultural exhibitions, cultural performances…

Department of Public Safety Celebrates Graduation of 9th Peace Officer Academy

On Aug. 14, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) welcomed families, friends and colleagues of the 9th Peace Officer Academy recruits to a graduation event. The ceremony, held at Drumlins Country Club, was the perfect culmination of their accomplishments over…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.