Williams Student Named 2015 Goldwater Scholar

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

Pryzant_Reid'16(Goldwater)WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., April 14, 2015—Williams College junior Reid Pryzant has been named a 2015 Goldwater Scholar by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Pryzant is one of 260 recipients of the scholarship, which is awarded to college sophomores and juniors nationwide who excel in mathematics, science, or engineering. Scholars receive awards of up to $7,500 to cover tuition, fees, books, and room and board.

Pryzant is a double major in computer science and biology from Falmouth, Maine, who has worked as a research assistant in the lab of Associate Professor of Biology Claire Ting since the fall of 2012. As part of their National Science Foundation funded project, the Ting Lab has collected samples containing billions of microorganisms from the North Atlantic’s Sargasso Sea and has sequenced the DNA and RNA from these samples. Pryzant’s role is to run the computations involved in analyzing the molecular information stored in these samples. “The field of biology involves massive amounts of data, and the only way to chew through it all is with computation,” Pryzant says.

Ting says Pryzant is passionate about understanding the natural world and applying computational approaches to some of the most exciting and challenging scientific questions. “By using an interdisciplinary approach and a range of computational methods to study our genomic, metagenomic and metatranscriptomic databases, Reid’s research has provided insights on how key microorganisms shape the composition and functional landscape of the Sargasso Sea,” Ting says.

At Williams, Pryzant runs track and holds the school record in the indoor heptathlon. He founded the Williams bee-keeping club, an interest he developed in high school and plans to continue after college. Next year, he hopes to write a thesis in computer science, and after graduation, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. and someday teach at the university level.

Pryzant brings to 43 the number of Goldwater Scholars from Williams since 1989. Last year’s winners, Ben Augenbraun, Jesse Freeman, and Samantha Petti, are currently completing their senior year at Williams. The Goldwater Foundation was founded in 1986 in honor of Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The scholarship program is designed to foster and encourage exceptional students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.

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Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college’s 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students’ educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions on U.S. applicants are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.

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Published April 14, 2015