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The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by the United States Congress in 1986 in honor of former United States Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Its goal is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who are US citizens or permanent residents and intend to pursue careers in these fields.

The scholarship—one of the most prestigious national undergraduate scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics^[1]^[2]—is awarded annually to about 400 college sophomores and juniors out of approximately 1200 nominees.^[3] The scholarship is awarded based on merit, and the actual amount given is based on financial need, up to a maximum of $7,500 per academic year. In addition, since at least 2006 until 2018, about 150 exceptional applicants not awarded the Scholarship have been recognized with official Honorable Mentions.^[4]

Colleges and universities are allowed to nominate only four of their undergraduate students per year for consideration.

In awarding scholarships, the Foundation considers the field of study, career objectives, commitment, and potential for a significant professional contribution. This is judged by letters of reference, student essays, and prior research experience. The number of scholarships per region depends on the number and qualifications of the nominees for that region. The regions are defined as each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and, considered as a single entity, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Leadership

Board of trustees

The board of trustees is composed of 13 members, 8 of which are appointed by the president of the United States with the consent of the United States Senate. No more than four of the presidentially-appointed members may be affiliated with the same political party. These members are appointed to terms of six years, but they may continue to serve on the board until a successor is confirmed.^[5]

Four trustees are members of Congress, two members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives. One each of these are appointed by the majority leader and the minority leader of the Senate, and the majority leader and the minority leader of the House, respectively. These members may not serve on the board for more than a total of six years.^[5]

In addition, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or their designee, serve as an ex officio member of the board, though is ineligible to serve as chairman.^[5]

Current board members

The current board members as of October 10, 2024:^[6]

Position	Name	Party	Assumed office	Term expiration
Chair	John H. Yopp	Republican	September 26, 2011	October 13, 2017
Member	Stewart DeSoto	Democratic	January 1, 2013	August 11, 2016
Member	Dennis DeConcini	Democratic	December 18, 2021	April 17, 2026
Member	Peggy Goldwater Clay	Republican	April 6, 1995	June 5, 2012
Member	Joseph M. Green	Republican	December 18, 2021	March 3, 2028
Member	Charlie Korsmo	Republican	September 26, 2011	October 13, 2017
Member	Maria E. Rengifo-Ruess	Democratic	September 26, 2011	February 4, 2014
Member	Vacant
Member	Kyrsten Sinema	Independent	March 7, 2019	—
Member	Vacant			—
Member	Glenn Grothman	Republican	December 14, 2023	—
Member	John B. Larson	Democratic	April 10, 2023	—
Member (ex officio)	Miguel Cardona	Democratic	March 2, 2021	—

Nominations

President Biden has nominated the following to fill seats on the board. They await Senate confirmation.^[7]

Name	Party	Term expires	Replacing
Barbara George Johnson	Democratic	February 4, 2026	Maria E. Rengifo-Ruess
Paul Herdman	Democratic	August 11, 2026	Gwendolyn Boyd

Foundation President and Executive Secretary

The board appoints an Executive Secretary of the foundation, who serves as the chief executive officer of the foundation and carries out its functions, subject to the supervision and direction of the board.^[8]

Dr. John Mateja has served as the third president of the foundation since 2016.^[9]

Past presidents

The past presidents and executive secretaries of the foundation:^[10]

Dr. W. Franklin Gilmore (2012–2015)^[11]
Col. Gerald J. Smith (1988–2011)^[12]

Goldwater scholars by university statistics

The table below represents the top 20 universities based upon the number of Goldwater Scholars they have produced as of March 22, 2006.^[13]


Ranking by Number of Goldwater Scholars	University Name	Number of Goldwater Scholars
1.	Princeton University	64
2.	Harvard University	60
3.	Duke University	58
4.	Kansas State University	57
5.	University of Chicago	53
6.	Pennsylvania State University	52
7.	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	51
7.	California Institute of Technology	51
9.	Stanford University	49
10.	Johns Hopkins University	46
11.	University of Virginia	45
11.	Washington University in St. Louis	45
11.	Montana State University	45
14.	Cornell University	43
14.	University of Michigan	43
14.	Brown University	43
17.	Northwestern University	41
17.	University of Tulsa	41
17.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	41
17.	University of Kansas	41
17.	Yale University	41

Change in number of scholarships awarded, 2019

In 2019, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation partnered with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs (NDEP) to dramatically increase the number of scholarships offered from the historical average of 15-20% of nominees at the national level to over 40%. This awarded a Goldwater scholarship to all students who would have received an Honorable Mention in previous years.^[14]

Changes implemented in 2020

Nomination materials will now be reviewed by discipline instead of state of residence.

Four-year schools that present a transfer student as a nominee can also nominate an additional (5th) student.

Institutions cannot reduce a student's institutionally-controlled scholarship funding after a student receives the Goldwater award.

The foundation will no longer reduce a student’s Goldwater award if the student receives additional scholarship funding during the same year.^[15]

References

^ "The Road to a Goldwater Scholarship". www.aps.org. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
^ "An Insider's Look at the Goldwater Scholarship". www.aps.org. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
^ "Barry Goldwater Scholarship". Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence in Education Foundation. March 31, 2023. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
^ "Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Website". Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c 20 U.S.C. § 4703
^ "Board of Trustees". goldwaterscholarship.gov. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^ "Quick Search Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation". Congress.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^ 20 U.S.C. § 4709
^ "Biographical Synopsis — Dr. John Mateja, Goldwater Foundation President and Executive Secretary". goldwaterscholarship.gov. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^ "Emeritus Presidents". goldwaterscholarship.gov. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^ Peggy Goldwater Clay. "Frank Gilmore, The Barry Goldwater Scholarship Foundation's Second President, Passes Away". goldwaterscholarship.gov. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^ Peggy Goldwater Clay. "First Goldwater Foundation President, COL Gerald J. Smith (USAF, Ret), PASSES AWAY" (PDF). goldwaterscholarship.gov. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^ "FOUR K-STATE STUDENTS WIN 2006 GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIPS". Department of Mathematics, Kansas State University. Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2022-12-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "2019 Scholar Press Release". goldwater.scholarsapply.org. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Archived from the original on 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
^ "New for 2020". goldwater.scholarsapply.org. Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-24.