Elizabeth Fernandez Named Macey Scholar

by George Zamora

SOCORRO, N.M. April 8, 2003 -- Elizabeth Rose Fernandez, a senior majoring in physics with an astrophysics option at New Mexico Tech, was named a 2002-2003 Macey Scholar at the state-supported research university. The honor included a $5,000 scholarship award.

Fernandez, the daughter of Joe and Rose Fernandez of Albuquerque, is a graduate of St. Pius X High School.

Last summer, Fernandez was chosen to participate in the National Science Foundation's prestigious Research Experiences for Undergraduates program and performed research for three months at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy.

Fernandez's other research experiences also include two summer internships at the Starfire Optical Range, developing and testing a GPS system used in observing pulsars, and a six-month stint operating and observing at Capilla Peak Observatory.

Fernandez, who has maintained a 3.9 grade-point-average (out of a possible 4.0) at New Mexico Tech, is a member of Sigma Pi Sigma, the national honor society for physics students, and also lists memberships in the American Astronomical Society and the American Physical Society.

She also is an active member of the New Mexico Tech Astronomy Club and the university's Ballroom Dance Club.

In addition to her studies and research activities, Fernandez also is the founder and past president of the New Mexico Tech Creative Writing Club and is an accomplished poet, having won the annual campus-wide poetry writing contest three times in the past four years.

"I have enjoyed my time at New Mexico Tech," Fernandez says. "The faculty at Tech are friendly, and I particularly like the small-school atmosphere of the university. . . . You get to develop very close friendships in the time you are here."

New Mexico Tech students named Macey Scholars are selected on the basis of their demonstrated academic accomplishments, both in the classroom and research laboratory, as well as their active participation in institutional service and co-curricular activities.

The Macey Scholars Program is funded by an endowment established by William B. and Jean M. Macey of Albuquerque and Tucson. William Macey graduated from the New Mexico School of Mines (as New Mexico Tech was known in its early years) in 1942, and also was awarded an honorary doctorate by Tech in 1984.