(April 28, 2014)

Alumnus receives competitive National Science Foundation fellowship

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary alumnus Everett Grimley '13 has been named a recipient of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) at North Carolina State University in the Materials Science and Engineering Department.

"I am very honored to be considered as a contributor to the scientific enterprise in our country," said Grimley.

The NSF GRFP is recognized for cultivating future innovators and leaders in the science and engineering fields, and among the program's past fellows are more than 30 Nobel Prize winners, over 440 members in the National Academy of Sciences, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and co-founder of Google Sergey Brin. In 2014, the NSF awarded the GRF to 2,000 of 14,000 applicants.

"Since my funding is now through the National Science Foundation, I have a bit more flexibility to pursue different areas of my professor's research that interest me, which is specifically scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of functional oxide materials and STEM technique development," said Grimley. "Oxides are important materials that are incorporated into electronic devices, and STEM allows us to see how the atoms arrange in these solids which allows us to understand how their atomic structure relates to their properties."

Grimley also plans for his research to further develop the analytical applications of STEM to solving problems of crystallography, which should enable materials scientists to better characterize their material systems.

"Ultimately, Centenary and its professors cultivated and molded me as a scientist," said Grimley. "My exposure to scientific research with my mentor Professor Juan Rodriguez and my discussions with Professors Messina, Lawrence, Brownholland, Ticich, Blakeney, and Goadrich about science, research, and graduate school played the largest roles in my decision to pursue graduate school and ultimately in realizing my own conviction to pursue a career in research science."

Grimley also attributes his academic publications and presentations from his time at Centenary as materials that put him over the edge for the NSF GRF reviewers and believes his training at Centenary helped him realize what to expect in graduate school and equip him with the knowledge of how to pursue scientific research.