May 8, 2003
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.- Jiovani Visaya, a sophomore at Amherst College, will receive a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for study next year. A graduate of Regis High School in New York, he is the son of Jesus and Teresita Visaya of Lynbrook, N.Y. Only 300 Goldwater Scholarships were awarded to undergraduate sophomores and juniors in the United States this year.
Visaya is interested in studying what he calls "the therapeutic side of biochemical research," combining his interests in biology and chemistry to discover biotechnological approaches to modern diseases and disorders. To that end, he plans eventually to enter the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry. He also studies economics and computer science.
Last summer, Visaya studied antibody catalysis at Amherst with chemistry professor David Hansen, as a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He continued that research at Amherst in January.
Visaya, whose majors are chemistry and biology, has worked on the Amherst College Emergency Medical Services team, and also been part of the Newman Club and the Pacific Islander/South East Asian Students Association at Amherst.
The U.S. Congress authorized the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program in 1986. Faculty members nominate students, and awards are made on the basis of academic merit to outstanding sophomores and juniors who plan to pursue careers in science, mathematics or engineering. Each scholarship covers expenses for tuition, fees, books, room and board, for as much as $7,500 annually.
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