The Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation recently awarded fourth-year Engineering student Will Jacobs a 2010 Gates Scholarship for $140,000, which will go toward his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge.
The Gates Cambridge Trust - which was established in October 2000 by the foundation - is designed to provide outstanding undergraduates the opportunity for graduate work at Cambridge.
According to its Web site, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate "intellectual ability, leadership capacity, and a desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world." Suitable scholars are students who possess "enthusiasm, robustness of intellect, a willingness to engage and an appropriate humility that comes from an awareness that nothing is ever really simple," the Web site stated.
Lucy Russell, director of the Center of Undergraduate Excellence, said the Gates Scholarship is "an extremely competitive - and an extremely generous - scholarship."
Jacobs earned the award because he has taken full advantage of the opportunities he has encountered at the University, Russell said.
He is, for example, a Jefferson Scholar and a Lawn resident. He also is a manager and the Madison House liaison for Community Bikes. Additionally, he plays piano in the University's Jazz Ensemble and has competed with the University Triathlon Club.
Others who know him also said Jacobs is a worthy recipient of the scholarship. Physics Prof. Bascom Deaver said Jacobs is "a superb student and a wonderful person to know and work with." By the time of his graduation in May, Jacobs will not only complete his engineering degree, Deaver said, but will also have completed all of the requirements for a bachelor's of science in physics, a program in which he has taken multiple courses at the graduate level.
"The fact that he does both of these programs is just incredible," Deaver said.
James Wright, president of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, said Jacobs is a very compassionate and kind person.
Jacobs is "the sort of leader, scholar, and citizen that the Jefferson Scholars Foundation seeks to find and attract here," Wright said, adding that Jacobs "wears his talent quite easily and does not bring attention to himself."
Jacobs, who learned of his selection last week, said he was ecstatic to learn the result, adding that he could not attend Cambridge without the scholarship.
He said his experiences at the University have prepared him for the research he will conduct at Cambridge. So far, he has studied computational material science for the last two-and-a-half years, and this training is "the most important part" of his background that will ready him for the years to come, he said.
At Cambridge, Jacobs hopes to research molecular motors using computer tools. Molecular motors work within the human body to convert chemical energy to mechanical energy, and they do this more efficiently than any motor humans can currently make, he said.
Ultimately, the goal of this research is to have "a better understanding of exactly how molecular motors work, [which] would allow for the synthetic creation of manmade molecular motors," he said.\nIn addition, Jacobs said he is very excited to be working with Cambridge Chemistry Prof. Daan Frenkel - a recipient of the Aneesur Rahman Prize of the American Physical Society - as he pursues his studies.
Engineering Dean James Aylor commended Jacobs' research goals.
"His interest in applying technology and his intellect to human problems is really exciting," Aylor said.
It is not only his academics at the University that have prepared him for his next step, but also his general experiences in the local community, as he compared Grounds to the Cambridge community. Cambridge's collection of small colleges, he said, forms a community much like the Academical Village. Both create "a very intimate intellectual community with people of different disciplines living and working together," he said.
Wright agreed that Jacobs is well-prepared to thrive at Cambridge.
"I can't imagine that he won't do exceedingly well," Wright said. "He has always done well, and the University experience has obviously been quite beneficial to him."
As for his future after Cambridge, Jacobs said he sees himself as a professor, combining teaching and research.
From 2001 to 2009, the Gates Cambridge Trust has given out 911 scholarships to students from 91 different countries, according to a Cambridge press release. This year, the program received 800 applications from students across the country and accepted 29 students. Additional scholarships will be awarded to non-American students later in the spring.
Read More
From the Archives: Celebration and Reflection (4/28 - 5/4)
By Clara Franklin and Annabelle Nee | 4 hours agoFrom The Purple Shadows breaking into the Dean of Students’s office to multiple student athletes accused of honor code violations, the graduating class’s four years were a wild ride.
PBS NewsHour correspondent speaks on bringing humanity to international conflict
By Grace Little | YesterdaySchifrin's work exploring Putin’s Russia, his coverage of COVID-19 and his reporting in Afghanistan and Ukraine have earned him various accolades.
Spring meal swipe drive aims to tackle food insecurity at the University
By Nicolas Biernacki | YesterdayU.Va. Dine facilitated the drive by converting each meal swipe donated by a student into one pound of food that is then donated to the CFP.
