Duke University Year In Review 2004/05

By the numbers:

Duke's impressive Class of 2008 began with 1,369 Trinity College students and 269 Pratt Engineering students selected from a record pool of 16,747 applicants. More than half of applicants were top 10 students in their secondary school and 1,459 were valedictorians. Students of color make up more than one-third of the class, which was 17 percent Asian, 11 percent African-American and six percent Hispanic/Latino. On the SAT, 50 percent of the class scored from 1390 to 1530 out of 1600, with a quarter of the class doing even better than 1530. Fifteen percent of students are from North Carolina, with New York, Florida, Texas and New Jersey rounding out the top five states. The class includes 130 students from 35 foreign countries.

Selected highlights:

Twenty Duke undergraduates received 2005-2006 Fulbright Scholarships for post-graduate study and teaching fellowships:

Nicole Ambrosetti of Dunkirk, N.Y., to teach English as a foreign language in Germany
Patrick Crosby of S.C., to study engineering in Australia
Brian Diekman of West Lafayette, Ind., to study engineering in Ireland
Julia DiPrete of Chicago, Ill., to teach English as a foreign language in Germany
David Finch of High Point, N.C., to teach English as a foreign language in Argentina
Kevin Fogg of Richmond, Va., to pursue Southeast Asian studies in Indonesia
Barry Gewolb of Minneapolis, Minn., to study economics in Uruguay
Nathan Hodson of Hopewell, Va., to study Near and Middle Eastern politics in Jordan
Sravan Kakani of Savannah, Ga., to teach English as a foreign language in South Korea
Daniel Kennedy of Edwards, Calif., to study international relations in Germany
Yelena Kogan of Gorky, Russia, to study public health in Brazil
Aneil Lala of Chicago, Ill., to teach English as a foreign language in South Korea
Jang Lee of N.J., to study filmmaking in China
Scott Lemmon of Charlotte, N.C., to teach English as a foreign language in Chile
Michelle Mangan of Arlington Heights, Ill., to study education in Senegal
Christopher Martin of Columbus, Ind., to study biology in Malawi
Mrinali Patel of Long Island, N.Y., to teach English as a foreign language in South Korea
Francesca Pignataro of Bethpage, N.Y., to study physical sciences in Italy
Cindy Wang of Taiwan, to study international relations in Estonia
Jessica Ward of Worcester, Mass., to study biology in Botswana

Emily Heikamp of Metairie, La., a senior biology major, won a Marshall Scholarship from the British government for two years of study at Oxford University. Up to 40 U.S. scholars are selected each year, but only an occasional undergraduate.

Three undergraduates won $7,500-per-year Goldwater Scholarships, recognizing their excellence in science, math or engineering:

Math and physics major Peter Blair, scholar of how light bends around black holes
Math and chemistry major Adam Chandler, developer of a mathematical model of how two linguistic dialects can develop in the same region
Biomedical engineering, physics, and electrical and computer engineering major Billy Hwang, developer of electrical chips to quickly analyze the chemistry of small material samples

Noël Bakhtian, a senior mechanical engineering and physics double major, won a 2005 Winston Churchill Scholarship for graduate study at Cambridge University in England. After her year at Cambridge, Bakhtian plans to pursue a doctorate in aeronautical engineering and then apply to be an astronaut.

Hersh Sandesara, a chemistry/public policy studies double major, won a Truman Scholarship for graduate study in recognition of his exceptional leadership potential and commitment to a career in public service.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund awarded fellowships to these students of color entering the teaching profession:

Annick Charlot, a junior public policy studies major from West Palm Beach, Fla.
Marissa L. McDaniel, a junior biological anthropology and anatomy major from Little Rock, Ark.
Jennika Suero, a junior sociology major from the Bronx, N.Y.