Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State computer engineering graduate student was selected to receive a highly competitive fellowship awarded annually to about 1,000 students nationwide.
Wesley James Holland of Florence was awarded a 2007 National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship. The foundation awards fellowships to students who demonstrate the potential to contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering.
The fellowship pays for a maximum of three years and may be used during a five-year period for a total of $40,500 each year, including stipend and cost-of-education allowance.
Holland graduated summa cum laude from MSU's Bagley College of Engineering in May with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering. He said experiences with faculty members convinced him to continue study at the 129-year-old land-grant university.
"During my undergraduate studies, I identified professors whose research interests coincided with my own," Holland said. "I chose MSU for graduate study because it allows me the opportunity to further collaborate with these faculty members."
Sarah Rajala, department head of electrical and computer engineering, said Holland epitomizes the highest caliber of student.
"Throughout his undergraduate career, Wesley has contributed to the department as a student, role model, mentor and academic scholar," Rajala said. "We know that he will continue to make us proud."
Holland also was honored as a National Merit Scholar, Barry M. Goldwater Scholar and Robert C. Byrd Scholar. Holland, a Presidential Scholar nominee, was inducted into both the MSU and Bagley College of Engineering student halls of fame.
For info on the NSF and fellowships offered, visit www.nsf.gov. Contact Holland at (601) 954-4868 or wesley.holland@gmail.com.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.