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Last modified: Wednesday, April 10, 2002

IU student honored as Goldwater Scholar

Indiana University junior David Ernfrid Larson, a biology major from Indianapolis, has been selected to receive a Goldwater Scholarship from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation for the 2002-03 academic year.

Larson is the most recent of 17 IU students who have been honored as Goldwater Scholars since 1989. He was one of 309 scholars chosen on the basis of academic achievement from 1,155 students in mathematics, science and engineering nationwide. Virtually all Goldwater Scholars intend to obtain a doctorate as their career objective.

"The College of Arts and Sciences is extremely proud of David Larson's achievement in winning a Goldwater Scholarship. He is an outstanding student with a brilliant future, and we expect great things from him," said Kumble R. Subbaswamy, dean of the IU College of Arts and Sciences.

Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic qualifications that have attracted the attention of prestigious postgraduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 44 Rhodes Scholarships, 39 Marshall Awards and numerous other distinguished fellowships.

Larson, the son of Jeff and Diana Larson, will receive a scholarship that will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and board for his senior year, valued at $7,500.

Prior to coming to IU in fall 1999, Larson graduated with honors from North Central High School in Indianapolis. Since 1999, he has worked and done research in the microbiology laboratory of Yves Brun, IU associate professor of biology, as a member of the Science Technology and Research Scholars (STARS) program. The IU STARS program places students in a faculty research laboratory, starting in their freshman year.

For the last two summers, he has conducted other laboratory research. He worked at Eli Lilly and Co. in the summer of 2000, studying bone density of laboratory animals using Dexa and p-Dexa scanners. Last summer, he conducted his own research on the role of a protein involved in cellular differentiation and localization in the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. He expects to publish a paper on his research this spring.

Larson received the Lloyd G. and Mildred Balfour Distinguished Scholarship from the IU Honors College and won Sigma Xi's award for Best Poster Presentation at the IU STARS Third Annual Research Symposium. He also is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society.

In addition to studying biology, Larson is minoring in mathematics and computer science.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established by Public Law 99-661 on Nov. 14, 1986. The scholarship program honoring Sen. Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields. In its 14-year history, the foundation has awarded 3,632 scholarships.

HOMETOWN INFORMATION: David Ernfrid Larson, 8210 Hoover Lane, Indianapolis, Ind.