Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Four Illinois students receive Goldwater scholarships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois juniors David Balut, Alyssa Shih, Dmitriy Shvydkoy and Annie Zeng were awarded Barry M. Goldwater scholarships for their potential to contribute to the advancement of research in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering.

As the result of an ongoing partnership with UWorld, a testing tools provider, and the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs, 441 Barry M. Goldwater scholarships were awarded for the 2025-26 academic year. The four Illinois students were chosen from 1,350 science, engineering and mathematics students that were nominated by 445 academic institutions for the scholarships.

The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry Goldwater is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields,

The University of Illinois is a perennial leader in the number of Goldwater Scholars awarded. “With nine awardees over the past two years,The University of Illinois joins Columbia University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University as one of the top producers of Goldwater Scholars in this biennium,” said David Schug, the director of the National and International Scholarships Program.

David Balut. Photo by Niels de Vries.
Alyssa Shih
Dmitriy Shvydkoy

Dmitriy Shvydkoy would like to pursue a doctorate in mathematics, with a focus on number theory. He participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates at the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science at Rutgers University and was an intern at Argonne National Laboratory as part of a national undergraduate program. Under the guidance of mathematics professor Florian Zeiser, he worked at the Illinois Mathematics Lab, studying the geometry of linear Poisson brackets. He attended Hinsdale Central High School in Illinois.

Annie Zeng

A native of San Diego, Annie Zeng, is interested in pursuing a doctorate in either mathematics or computer science. She plans to conduct research in combinatorics and theoretical computer science. She worked with mathematics postdoctoral researcher Peter Bradshaw at the Illinois Combinatorics Lab for Undergraduate Experiences. Computer science professor Ruta Mehta directed her research in theoretical computer science as an Illinois Computer Science Student Ambassador and Research Scholar, and Zeng continues in both programs under the guidance of computer science professor Chandra Chekuri and mathematics professor Abhishek Methuku studying graph theory. Like, Shvydkoy, she participated in the DIMACS REU at Rutgers University, where she studied algorithmic game theory.

Editor's note:

For more information, contact David Schug, National and International Scholarships Program director, 217-333-4710; topscholars@illinois.edu.

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