Benjamin Kwait-Gonchar, a senior majoring in biophysics and Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, received the first annual Rice University Astronaut Scholar Award. The award was endowed by the Lovell family through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), a nonprofit founded in 1986 by the first astronauts, known as the Mercury Seven, to support young scholars in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“This is our very first year of having a Rice Astronaut Scholar, and that is due to an endowment by the Lovell family,” said Colleen Middlebrooks, president of ASF. “We will have this award in perpetuity that allows us to support the best and brightest in STEM.”
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation works with 56 universities across the nation. Universities select and submit top student applications for consideration to the ASF, whose board selects 1-2 recipients per university. This year, 79 scholars each received up to $15,000 toward their tuition.
In addition to the funds, students are offered lifetime access to mentoring as they progress through their career and access to the Astronaut Scholarship community. Each year, recipients travel to the Innovators Symposium to meet their cohort.
“Before I was even looking at colleges, I had heard of the Astronaut Scholarship and hoped to apply,” Kwait-Gonchar said. “I ended up choosing Rice, which didn’t offer the award at the time. But during my junior year, Rice students became eligible, and I was encouraged to apply.”
The most exciting part of the award for Kwait-Gonchar, who is applying to graduate programs in geobiology, was the people he met through the award.
“It’s nice to know that going into this next world of grad school, there’s this network of all these incredible fellow Astronaut Scholars who support each other,” Kwait-Gonchar said. “It has been so exciting to meet all these people and to become a part of this astronaut community.”
The Astronaut Scholar Award was brought to Rice by the Lovell family, who created an endowment in honor of their late father, James Lovell, astronaut and former chairman of ASF. Lovell was a huge science and math advocate, who loved talking to students.
“My dad wouldn’t have gotten to where he was in life without scholarships. We wanted to find a university to set up an endowment, but we didn’t know where,” Jeff Lovell said. “When we heard there was no university in Houston with an [ASF] scholarship, it took us less than a minute to decide on Rice. Rice needs to be part of this.”
Rice’s program was officially launched with a reception in which astronaut Michael Baker appropriately gave the keynote speech, sharing insights and photos from his time at NASA and in space.
“ASF is founded and fueled by astronauts,” Baker said. “STEM is really important, and this is a way to support our best and brightest.”
And the support goes a long way. Rice graduate student Amanda Galloway received an Astronaut Scholars Award during her undergraduate years at Texas A&M University.
“It was a really great monetary award that covered the cost of my senior year, but that ended up being the least beneficial part,” said Galloway, who studies bioengineering and credits the award for a growing interest in space. “Being part of this group of scholars, for the rest of your life, is just incredible.”