National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships have been awarded to 14 Cornell students, five of them undergraduates in their senior year.

The 14 are among 850 outstanding college and university students named in this year's fellowship program, which is one of the NSF's oldest and currently provides a stipend of $16,200 per year for full-time graduate study. The NSF also provides an annual cost-of-education allowance of $10,500 in lieu of all tuition and required fees at U.S. institutions.

Among the national winners are several recent Cornell alumni as well as students from other universities who say they plan to study at Cornell at the graduate level in September. The latest Cornell winners bring the total number of NSF fellows pursuing graduate study at the university to more than 80.

Cornell graduate student winners are: Gustavo Saes Azenha (botany and biological sciences), Sienna Radha Craig (anthropology), Kyle Scott Douglas (environmental systems engineering), Brian R. Johnson (entomology), Christienne N. Kuczak (crop and soil science), Melissa Ann Luker (botany and biological sciences), Allen Brantley MacKenzie (electrical engineering), Pete E. Pascuzzi (molecular and cell biology) and Lina Ann Rymarquis (botany and biological sciences).

The undergraduate winners are: Martha L. DelCampo (civil engineering), Amy Diane Droitcour (electrical engineering), Danielle Hilda Dube (biological sciences), David Matthew Jenkins (chemistry) and Alexander Vikram Rau (Cornell College Scholar Program in arts).

In addition, the NSF named 946 individuals to receive honorable mention in the fellowship program, including 18 Cornell undergraduates and nine graduate students.

The NSF's graduate fellowship program offers support for graduate study in all scientific disciplines. According to Susan Duby, director of NSF's graduate education division, "NSF has nearly 50 years of experience that shows these fellowships make a big difference, not only in the careers of the young scientists who receive the awards, but to the nation."

NSF graduate fellows are promising young mathematicians, scientists and engineers who are expected to pursue lifelong careers marked by significant contributions to research, teaching and industrial applications in science, mathematics and engineering. "Its recipients go on to become our top researchers and educators. They are a major force in maintaining the vitality and excellence of American science, mathematics and engineering," Duby said.

"Historically, the recipients of these fellowships have completed their Ph.D.s at a higher rate than other graduate students, have moved on to top-notch departments, and have won more postdoctoral appointments, research grants, prestigious awards and other honors," she said. Eighteen former fellows have won Nobel Prizes.

Among the awardees, 89, or 10.5 percent, are members of traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology fields. Women won 49.8 percent of the awards overall. Awardees come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The awardees received their bachelor's degrees from 236 colleges and universities, including eight foreign institutions.

Among coordinating officials for the NSF fellowship program were Sarah S. Hale, director of graduate fellowships and financial aid at Cornell, and Joel D. Pardee, associate dean, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in New York City.