February 4, 2008
Andrew Niles awarded Churchill Scholarship
david.andreatta@rochester.edu
Andrew Niles, a senior honors mathematics major, has
been named a 2008 Churchill Scholar and will advance his studies at the
University of Cambridge this fall.
The scholarships, offered to just 12 students
nationally each year, enable recipients to pursue graduate work in
engineering, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences. Niles will
pursue a certificate of advanced study in mathematics.
The prestigious honor marks the second time in as many
years that a mathematics student from the College of Arts, Sciences, and
Engineering has been awarded a Churchill Scholarship. The University is one
of a select group of distinguished colleges and universities invited to
nominate undergraduates for the award.
A native of Concord, N.H., Niles is no stranger to
academic achievement. He was named a Goldwater Scholar last year, is on
track to graduate in four years with a bachelor’s and master’s
degree in mathematics, and won the Stoddard Prize, awarded each year to the
best sophomore math student. He plans to earn his doctoral degree in
mathematics upon his return from studying abroad.
Niles coauthored two papers as a result of his
participation in the National Science Foundation’s highly selective
Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, one of which is pending
publication in a professionally refereed journal. One of his research
projects, conducted on a more than 350-year-old computational algebra
problem during the summer of 2006, led to Niles presenting his findings at
the MEGA 2007 conference in Austria. He was the only student presenter at
the event, which is considered the premier international conference in the
field of algebraic geometry.
“Galileo said that math is the language of the
universe,” said Niles. “That’s basically how I look at
it. I just want to make some contribution to it. You have no idea what
fields you may be helping in the long run because mathematics is
everywhere.”
At the University, Niles is the co-editor-in-chief of
the Journal of
Undergraduate Research, a cellist in the Chamber Orchestra, past winner of concerto
piano competition, and an accompanist for the men’s glee club. He has
studied Arabic, German, Latin, and Russian, and is also an economics minor.
The Churchill Scholarship covers all tuition and fees,
valued at roughly $25,000, and provides upward of $20,000 for living
expenses and travel costs.
Faculty and administrators who have worked closely
with Niles welcomed news of the scholarship.
“Andrew has a real thirst for knowledge, and a
natural ability to integrate ideas from diverse areas of study,” said
Naomi Jochnowitz, an associate professor in mathematics who has had
extensive academic interaction with Niles. “He’s everything one
would want in a student.”
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