Kumpaty Hephzibah, left, with Robert Rider in the lab in 2019.
Robert Rider, a chemistry major at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, will participate in a prestigious national educational outreach and workforce development program in chemistry at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, this summer.
Rider was selected as one of the 24 of 150 applicants nationwide for Nuclear and Radiochemistry Summer Schools (NCSS), an intensive six-week program for undergraduates. Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the summer program is administered through the American Chemical Society’s Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology.
Rider, who is minoring in biology, is the second UW-Whitewater student to have won this rare distinction, the previous recipient being Katherine Ceschi in 2018. Both were mentored by Professor of Chemistry Hephzibah Kumpaty.
“The Brookhaven National Laboratory summer school program in nuclear chemistry is reserved for students of outstanding academic talent and active participation in undergraduate research,” said Kumpaty, who has been teaching at UW-Whitewater for 24 years.
“Robert will be an excellent chemist. He’s a good, focused student who’s an independent thinker, a self-starter and a very organized individual. This program is an excellent opportunity for him.”