By Carin Holmes
News Editor

KU student Vanessa Maybruck has been awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. 

Those selected for the fellowship receive a three-year annual stipend of $34,000, as well as $12,000 toward tuition and fees. Out of more than 50,000 applicants, over 60,000 fellowships have been funded by the National Science Foundation since the start of the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. 

When Maybruck began her education at KU, she didn’t even know that the fellowship existed. 

“I heard of it through a friend who applied, and then I decided to apply before grad school,” she said. “I know it is very prestigious and helps with the career in general to have it on a résumé.”

Maybruck is a dual major in Math and Secondary Education with minor in Biochemistry. She began her education as a Biochemistry major, but realized she liked the math side of science more and made the switch. She loves research and math and hopes to become a professor someday so that she can teach math and continue her research. Maybruck will begin attending the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics. 

Maybruck felt as though the opportunities she had during her time at KU helped her win the fellowship award.  She has worked with professors to complete research, including work proving that the Kutztown Borough was spending too much money treating wastewater due to precipitation and groundwater infiltrating the sanitary sewer system. She has also presented research at the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) conference.  

“KU has given me all kinds of opportunities that I am grateful for and everything I have done on campus has contributed,” she said about KU’s influence on her accomplishment.

Maybruck would tell anyone that wants to achieve something like she did to “don’t be afraid to try.” She said that many do not apply for things because they do not think they will be selected, but they will never know if they never try. 

Maybruck said that she wants to help anyone who may have questions about the fellowship or simply want advice, as she did not have many people to talk to who knew how all of this worked when she applied. Anyone who wants to talk to her can reach her by emailing vmayb750@live.kutztown.edu.