TAMS student wins Goldwater Scholarship

Chieu Nguyen is one of seven Texas residents to receive a 2004 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. The 18-year-old is a student at UNT's Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science.

The Goldwater Scholarships are considered the most prestigious scholarships awarded to students planning careers in mathematics, science and engineering. Open to college sophomores and juniors, the one- and two-year scholarships provide a maximum of $7,500 each year to cover tuition, fees, books and room and board. Universities may nominate up to four students for the award. Students are chosen on the basis of their scientific research, grade-point averages and other achievements.

This year, 310 students in the nation received Goldwater Scholarships. The other six recipients who are Texas residents attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Texas Tech University, Trinity University in San Antonio, the University of Texas at Austin and Brown University in Providence, R.I.

UNT has produced 25 Goldwater Scholarship winners since 1996. Most have been academy students.

Nguyen said receiving the scholarship reaffirms his interest in science and research, which he developed at a young age.

"I remember checking out science books from the library and reading them to find out more about the nature of the universe," he says. "I am grateful that the Goldwater Scholarship exists to support promising students. Though I am the only representative of UNT to receive a scholarship this year, I feel that all of the other students who spent countless hours conducting their research projects and perfecting their applications deserved the award as well."

Nguyen was honored for research that he conducted during the summer of 2003 at a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in physics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Working under the guidance of Thomas K. Hemmick and Ralf Averbeck of SUNY's Department of Physics and Astronomy, Nguyen participated in the Pioneering High Energy Nuclear Interaction Experiment (PHENIX) at the laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The experiment focuses on quark-gluon plasma, which was theoretically the dominant form of matter in the universe nanoseconds after the Big Bang.

Nguyen examined the behavior of electrically charged low-momentum particles passing through different materials as the particles traveled from the initial heavy ion collision to the detectors in the collider.

"My project helped to correct a systematic error in an algorithm that PHENIX used to gather data about heavy ion collisions, which briefly produce quark-gluon plasma. PHENIX, along with three other experiments at the collider, will ultimately uncover meaningful information about what the universe was like in its very early stages," he says. "Physics attracted me because it involves the behavior and interactions of the most basic building blocks of the universe."

Nguyen says his parents, who escaped from a Viet Cong camp in South Vietnam in 1979 and lived in Switzerland before immigrating to the United States, taught him that "whatever the obstacles, success comes through hard work and personal conviction."

In applying for the Goldwater Scholarship, Nguyen received guidance and support from UNT's Goldwater Faculty Nominating and Mentoring Committee. Committee members are James Duban, director of the UNT Office for Nationally Competitive Scholarships and committee chair; Elizabeth Bator, associate professor of mathematics; Jannon Fuchs, professor of biological sciences; David Golden, Regents Professor of physics; Paul Jones, professor of chemistry; and Sam Matteson, chair of the Department of Physics.

Duban said Nguyen is "a brilliant young physicist who stands to continue to make pioneering contributions to theories surrounding the origins of the universe. He is a prime example of the brilliance we customarily associate with students in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science."

Richard Sinclair, academy dean, says Nguyen created a music video about physics called "The Relativity Rap," in which he wrote and performed the title song.

Nguyen attended Klein Collins High School in Spring before entering TAMS in August 2002. At TAMS, he is a member of the mathematics organization Mu Alpha Theta, the drama club Academy Players, the Dull Roar Music Society and the TAMS Literary Club. He is a student representative for the Student Life Advisory Board and a contributor to the TAMS student publication Three in Thirty. In addition, Nguyen volunteers as a physics tutor.

A National Merit Scholar, he was named to the TAMS Director's Honor Roll for every semester since he enrolled in the academy for having a perfect grade-point average.

Nguyen plans to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University or the University of Chicago after graduating from TAMS May 7. After finishing his bachelor's degree, he plans to earn master's and doctoral degrees in physics and pursue a career in particle physics research at a particle accelerator or collider laboratory.

BY NANCY KOLSTI nkolsti@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Regents approve $22 per semester credit hour tuition increase
• Senator to speak at UNT's general commencement ceremony May 8
• About the commencement speaker
• Phi Kappa Sigma house residents to spend remainder of semester in residence hall
• Prizes up for grabs for survey participation
• State Rep. Myra Crownover to speak at TAMS graduation
• National Public Broadcasting System chief operating officer to speak at April 29 lunch
• Professorships to honor two Texas educators

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