Introduction
by Howard Benedict, Executive DirectorThis is the premier edition of Mercury Scholars, a newsletter for and about present and past Mercury Seven Foundation Scholarship winners. It has been researched, assembled, and written by Lisa Beeson, herself a Mercury scholar. Lisa was awarded a Mercury scholarship three times, in 1987-88, 1988-89, and 1989-90, as she pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. Since 1990, she has been an engineer with Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Orlando. For the last three years, she has been a member of our scholarship committee, working with Chairman Harvey A. Miller of the University of Central Florida to help select her successors. She has worked tirelessly on her own time to track down and contact Mercury scholars for the informative report presented in this first issue. Future editions will appear periodically. For her efforts, we applaud and thank her.
Welcome
by Lisa A. BeesonWelcome to the first newsletter published by the Mercury 7 Foundation Scholarship Committee! The Scholarship Committee has undertaken the task of compiling information about all of our past scholars (as many as we can reach) and their current activities. This newsletter represents the first in a series of updates which we plan to publish at least once a year in order to provide information to all of the Mercury 7 Foundation members, contributors, friends, and scholarship recipients.
As Howard stated in the Introduction, I am a past scholarship recipient, and I have been volunteering with the Mercury 7 Foundation Scholarship Committee since 1991. It is a small way of returning my thanks for the financial support that I received from the Foundation during college and to promote and continue the excellent work which this Foundation has been doing for several years!
This newsletter contains profiles on 19 of our past scholars. Other scholars will be profiled in future editions. If you are a past scholar (or if you know someone who is), and I have not talked to you this year, please contact me at Lisa@AstronautScholars.org.
Georgia Tech
1986-87 Preston Bates
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1986-87 Kenneth Still
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 Lisa A. (Riggle) Beeson
Lisa graduated in June 1990 with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with highest honors from Georgia Tech. In addition to other activities during college, she worked on a project to design and build a working scale model of a six-wheeled lunar surface vehicle, operated by remote control.
Immediately after graduation, Lisa began working for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Orlando, Florida. She is currently responsible for the acoustical and environmental design and testing of combustion turbine and steam turbine power plants all around the world.
Lisa is enjoying her career and feels that an environmental engineer working in industry has the opportunity to make a positive impact on the environment by designing better controls to reduce air pollution, noise pollution, improve water quality, and prevent other environmental impacts. She has already received several division and corporate level performance awards.
Lisa is responsible for testing the power plants which Westinghouse builds in order to demonstrate compliance with air quality and noise requirements. Through testing and development of alternative designs, she recently reduced the noise being emitted from a power plant by ten times, without negative impact on the plant performance.
In addition to her volunteer activities with Mercury 7, she participates (1990-present) in the National Engineer's Week program in which engineers make presentations to local middle and high school classes in order to encourage students to consider careers in science and engineering.
Lisa was married to Robert Beeson in September 1987. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech and University of Central Florida and also currently works for Westinghouse as an electrical engineer.
1989-90 Brian Watson
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1990-91, 1991-92 James Bradley Moore
Brad expects to graduate this June from Georgia Tech, with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. Throughout his college education, he has worked as a cooperative education employee at Exxon in Baytown, Texas. His cooperative education position allowed him to explore his career as a Mechanical Engineer in jobs with increasing responsibility in an oil refinery, including implementation and coordination of various projects, design development, and machinery maintenance.
Brad is currently seeking permanent employment in project engineering or systems design and integration.
During college, Brad participated in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and intramurals. He was a member of several honor societies, including Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and the Briarean Society.
Brad said that the Mercury 7 Foundation Scholarship helped him tremendously since he was funding his college education himself.
1992-93 Gregory Book
The following information about Gregory Book was taken from his scholarship nomination form (last year). He will be contacted soon to be profiled in an upcoming edition.
Gregory is studying for a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and expects to complete his degree in June 1995.
A nomination letter from his research professor states that he is determined to become an astronaut and has a specific goal to be a Mission Specialist with NASA. His research has included developing a fabrication process which should lead to the smallest working quantum devices yet fabricated.
Prior to his Ph.D. work, Gregory completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at Northwestern State University in Louisiana.
He was married in August 1991.
Harvey Mudd College
1987-88, 1988-89 Ken Easton
Ken graduated from Harvey Mudd College in May 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. He continued his education at Stanford University and graduated in June 1990 with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering.
After completion of his Master's degree, Ken began his career with Qualcomm, Incorporated, as an electronic chip designer. During the past three years with Qualcomm, he has participated in a very intense project to develop the next generation of cellular telephone electronics, using a single-chip implementation. As part of this work, he has produced a publication on the topic of CDMA Mobile Station Modem BASIC, which was recently seen in the March 1993 issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits.
Ken has also submitted several patent disclosures. He is clearly enjoying his career and puts in many long hours at the office.
1989-90 Douglas Dunston
Although Douglas could not be reached during the time of the telephone survey, his father provided the following update on Douglas' activities:
Douglas is currently studying at University of California at Berkeley to obtain a Master's degree in Physics. However, in April 1993, he was visiting the Claremont Colleges again (his alma mater for the Bachelor's degree), to explore the possibility of studying for a Ph.D. in Music. He has always had a strong interest in classical music.
Douglas is currently residing in Oakland, California and is very difficult to reach at home, so we would appreciate hearing more from Douglas!
1990-91 Jennifer M. Galvin
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1991-92, 1992-93 Deborah Swarts
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
Miami University
1986-87,1987-88 Karen Jenkins
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1988-89 Scott Williams
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1989-90 Amy Jacobs-Farr
Amy received her Bachelor's degree in Zoology from Miami University in 1990 and continued studying for a Master's degree in Zoology, at Miami, which she completed in December 1992.
She is now the Education Coordinator for South Nevada Zoological Park - the only zoo in the state of Nevada! She is responsible for starting the educational program from scratch.
In November 1992, Amy presented some of the results from her graduate school research at a conference of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and she expects the paper will be published soon. The topic is the effects of sluoranthene on fish behavior.
Amy said that the Mercury 7 Foundation Scholarship helped her by funding her senior year of undergraduate school, enabling her to get involved in some research projects that she otherwise would not have had time for. That undergraduate research then led her to remain at Miami University for graduate school.
Amy was married in May 1991, and her husband is in the Air Force. They reside in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1990-91 Charles J. Mueller, Jr.
At the time of the telephone survey, Chuck was studying for his oral exams to complete a Master's degree in Combustion from the University of Michigan, and to qualify for the Ph.D. program in Combustion at that school. His father suggested that Chuck be contacted after completion of these exams, so he provided the following update on Chuck's activities:
The Mercury 7 Foundation Scholarship was awarded to Chuck during his studies at Miami University. Chuck graduated summa cum laude from Miami with a Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering before entering the University of Michigan for graduate studies.
In graduate school, he has done research in the area of combustion by conducting visual observations of the flame when varying input flow rates into the combustion chamber.
An interesting personal experience was related by Chuck's father:
Prior to Chuck's junior year at Miami University, he worked at a Wyoming dude ranch as a wrangler. During that summer, he was involved in an accident in which his horse reared up, lost its balance, and fell backward, with both Chuck and the horse landing on Chuck's head! He had to be resuscitated and was immediately rushed to the hospital. To make a long story short, most accidents of this nature result in permanent brain damage. However, Chuck was very lucky, and being a fighter, he returned to Miami University only 10 days after entering the hospital. He achieved straight-A's that term in Math, Physics, Aerospace Engineering, and other courses!
Chuck's father feels that Chuck must be destined to achieve great things in his life because he was so lucky to have come out of such a serious accident with no permanent damage of any kind!
1991-92 Richard Rhinehart
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1992-93 Dan Karipides
The following profile information was taken from Dan's nomination forms from last year. He will be contacted in the future to obtain an update for a profile in an upcoming edition of this newsletter.
Dan is a Senior at Miami University and expects to complete a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Physics / Aeronautics in May 1993.
As the President of the Society of Physics Students, Dan developed a program of fluid dynamics demonstrations for presentation to local high schools to stimulate interest in science. His nominator described him as a well-rounded and multi-talented individual, a characteristic sought of all Mercury 7 Scholars.
North Carolina State University
1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89 Matthew Young
Matthew is currently working on his bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Physics at North Carolina State University. He has been in school for 8 years, off and on due to illness and the resulting missed classes, etc. He expects to graduate in May 1994.
Matthew is obviously a hard worker and is very enthusiastic about not only the Mercury 7 Foundation but also Space Camp. The two organizations have had a significant impact on his life!
Matthew has worked as a counselor and hardware designer for Space Camp (in Huntsville, Alabama) for several years, including the camp which was being conducted during April 1993.
Matthew said that the scholarship was extremely valuable, but the most exciting thing about his involvement with Mercury 7 was the opportunity to meet the Mercury 7 astronauts as one of the first scholarship recipients in 1986. He said that the astronauts have always been his heroes, and that the Mercury 7 Foundation and Space Camp have had a tremendous impact on his life.
In addition to his educational pursuits and Space Camp activities, Matthew has also volunteered with the Special Olympics and the National Federation for the Blind. He certainly exemplifies the qualify of character expected of Mercury 7 scholars.
1990-91 Edward Curtis Schatte, Jr.
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1991-92 Eric Sharpe
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1992-93 Rick Beyer
The following information about Rick Beyer was taken from his scholarship nomination form. He will be contacted soon to be profiled in an upcoming edition of this newsletter.
Rick in studying Materials Science and Engineering, with a minor in mathematics, and expects to received a Bachelor's degree in December 1993.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Rick has been involved in the University Community Chorus and the Men's Glee Club, sports activities, and other student organizations, such as the Materials Technical Society and the American Ceramic Society.
During the summer of 1991, Rick held a research assistant ship at the NASA Langley Research Center, and in the summer of 1992, he worked in the National Science Foundation Summer Undergraduate Research Program at Virginia Tech.
In his nomination information, Rick was classified as the "top student in our rising senior class."
Pennsylvania State University
1987-88,1988-89 John Shaw
John received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science from Penn State University. John worked for two years after graduating from Penn State as an aerospace design engineer and later in the business development area of General Electric as part of their Edison Engineering program.
He is now working toward a J. D. at the University of Pittsburgh and hopes to pursue a career in environmental law or a similar area. John want to use his engineering background in his legal career. John expects to complete a publication of some of his law school work at the end of May 1993.
John will celebrate his one year wedding anniversary in June of this year. His wife is an engineer with DuPont.
John stated that the Mercury 7 scholarship allowed him to free up time to work on his senior year thesis at Penn State, which proved to be very valuable.
1989-90 Emil Hayek
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 Kathy White Shellenberger
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
Purdue University
1987-88 Pamela Rowe Mechling
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1988-89 Steve Vavrus
At the time of the telephone survey, Steve was conducting meteorological research at the James Rennell Research Center in Southampton, England, during the semester between his Master's degree and Ph.D. work. His mother provided the following update:
Steve completed his Bachelor's degree at Purdue University. He went on to complete a Master's degree in Meteorology at the University of Wisconsin in December 1992, and will start work on a Ph.D. in Meteorology at Wisconsin this fall.
1989-90 Mark Sepanski
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1990-91,1991-92 Scott Tamblyn
The last update received from Scott Tamblyn was a letter from him in March 1992. He will be contacted again to be profiled in an upcoming edition.
In March 1992, Scott was predicting that he would complete his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue. He had also accepted a permanent position with NASA at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas (his former cooperative education employer).
1992-93 Matthew Szolwinski
This profile information was taken from Matthew's nomination forms. He will be contacted personally for an upcoming edition of this newsletter.
Matthew is a Senior at Purdue University, studying Aeronautical Engineering. He expects to complete his degree by May 1993.
In addition to studying, Matthew has been involved throughout college with the Purdue Engineering Student Council, including a term as president. In this organization he has directed and contributed to a campus-wide magazine and a Fall Open House project, as well as participating in establishing a national advisory board to redefine and strengthen the National Engineering Student Council by drafting a new national constitution. As a result of these activities, Matthew became one of only 10 seniors who were honored with membership in the Purdue Iron Key leadership society.
He hopes to obtain a research-oriented position in the aeronautical industry after completion of his degree, possibly including international experience in Germany.
Texas A&M University
1986-87 Pixie Mosley
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1988-89,1989-90 Michael Skivington
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1990-91, 1991-92 Debora Fairbrother
Debora received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University in May 1990 and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the same school in December 1992.
She is now working on a temporary basis on a government contract for NASA at Winzen International in San Antonio, Texas. Winzen manufactures very large weather research balloons, of which the largest is roughly the volume of the Houston Astrodome. Some of these research balloons fly as high as 20 miles.
During college, Debora did a summer internship at Southwest Research Institute, which is where her husband currently works. She has been married since December 1992, and her husband also has a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M.
Debora's Master's degree research was on the subject of Material Characteristics of Elastomers, geared toward the oil field industry, and during school she was the Secretary of the Society of Plastics Engineers. After completing her Master's thesis, she received awards for posters based upon her work. Debora is looking for a permanent position in plastics or mechanics of materials in the San Antonio area.
For her, the Mercury 7 Scholarship relieved the financial pressures of graduate school. She was able to pursue a project which interested her but was not funded.
1992-93 Phyllis McAdoo
The following information was gathered from the nomination information for Phyllis McAdoo. Her profile will be updated after talking with her for an upcoming edition of this newsletter.
Phyllis is a Senior in Geophysics at Texas A&M University and expects to complete her Bachelor's degree in May 1993. Despite a rigorous curriculum, Phyllis has maintained a very high grade point average (typical of Mercury 7 scholars)! She has also been involved with research with several faculty members.
Phyllis' research has included measuring infrared absorption bands associated with O-H stretching modes in amphiboles and examining the effects of nearby cations on their frequencies. Her nomination information indicated that she would continue on to graduate school.
University of Central Florida
1986-87,1987-88 Thomas Krizanosky
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1988-89 Tim Henderson
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1989-90,1990-91 Anthony DeLia
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1991-92 Greg Turenchalk, Jr.
Greg graduated in December 1992 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry.
This is an interim semester for him in which he is teaching a Genetics discussion course at UCF. Greg was accepted into graduate school at both Harvard and Yale Universities, and he has decided to begin studying for a Ph.D. in Genetics at Yale University, beginning this September.
He currently has a publication in development based upon some of his research.
Greg is leaning toward a career in academia, but has not ruled out industrial experience.
The Mercury 7 Scholarship took the pressure off Greg to work in order to fund his undergraduate education and allowed him to spend time doing research in the laboratory. Greg believes funding is critical in encouraging students to pursue scientific and technical careers.
1992-93 Fred Hicks
The following information was taken from the nomination forms for Fred Hicks. He will be contacted in the future to obtain updated information for an upcoming edition of this newsletter.
Fred is a Senior in Chemistry and expects to complete his Bachelor's degree in April 1993.
His outstanding academic abilities and character were compared with the brightest graduate students by his nominator. Some of his research work has been submitted to the Journal of Organic Chemistry for publication.
Several members of his family are also involved in chemistry, including his grandfather, as an organic chemistry professor, and his father, as a chemical engineer.
In addition to his interest in Chemistry, Fred also contributed to a poetry journal at the University of Central Florida.
University of Washington
1987-88 Gorm Nykreim
Although Gorm could not be reached during the telephone survey, his mother provided the following update on his current activities:
Gorm is currently studying for a Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology and is president of the Science Fiction Club at the school. Gorm's mother expresses sincere gratitude for the scholarship and stated that "you just don't know how much it helped."
1988-89,1989-90 Richard Merrill
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 Edward William Felten
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
Washington University
1986-87,1987-88 James Kim
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1988-89,1989-90 Darren Klugg
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 Kevin Scott Ruland
To be profiled in an upcoming edition.
Closing Remarks
As you can see from the profiles, the Mercury 7 Scholars have varied careers and personal interests. Although none have been finished with school for more than a few years, it is clear that they have accomplished many great achievements already! Mercury 7 is pleased to continue to support the education of this fine caliber of people.