MC seniors Sherri-Gae Scott (left) and Will Grimes have each been awarded graduate scholarships to prestigious research universities.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Two Monmouth College science majors have been awarded prestigious scholarships to renowned Maryland graduate programs.

Will Grimes, a senior physics major from Virden, Ill., will attend the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, while Sherri-Gae Scott, a senior biology from Baltimore, Md., will enter the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Grimes, who will pursue his Ph.D. in chemical physics, has been selected to receive several sources of financial support: a prestigious NIH Graduate Partnership Program (GPP) Fellowship, a supplementary Chemical Physics Fellowship and an optional summer research assistantship. The admission offer totals $30,800 for the first year.

Scott will seek a Ph.D. in Johns Hopkins’ Graduate Training Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine. She will receive a full financial support package, which includes tuition and fees and a graduate stipend of $23,000, which increases annually. The package is supported by the Lucille P. Markley Charitable Trust and a training grant from the National Institute of Health.

As an undergraduate, Grimes has already made a name for himself as a budding physicist. After spending the summer of 2001 as an intern at Argonne National Laboratory, he was invited to present a paper at the national meeting of the American Physics Society (APS) in Hawaii. An APS award covered all his expenses to attend the meeting.

“The comprehensive package indicates Maryland’s high regard for Will’s abilities, accomplishments and potential to make significant contributions as a scientist,” said Raj Ambrose, chair of the MC physics department. “The Chemical Physics Program offers exceptionally strong academic training in both physics and chemistry and a wide range of research opportunities in Will’s area of interest – biophysics.”

“The NIH Graduate Partnership Program Fellowship is very prestigious and highly competitive,” said Ambrose. “Last year only four such fellowships were awarded. This is a great accomplishment for Will and a significant honor for the physics department and Monmouth College.”

Grimes is the son of Ron and Kathy Grimes of Virden.

Scott’s scholarship is a full financial support package that includes tuition, fees and a graduate stipend of $23,000, which increases annually. The package is supported by the Lucille P. Markley Charitable Trust and a training grant from the National Institute of Health.

“My primary interest is in infectious disease research, in particular the molecular and cellular biology of parasitic protozoa, and how this may influence the biology of a host-parasite interaction,” said Scott. “I am interested in cryptosporidiosis, which causes a diarrheal disease in humans.”

Scott hopes to do laboratory research in a wide variety of departments at Johns Hopkins such as molecular biology and genetics, pathology, medicine, population dynamics or the Malaria Institute.

“Eventually I hope to make lasting contributions to the study of parasitic protozoa diseases and the impact they have on global health,” she said. “It is also my intention to assist in the development of solutions such as new vaccines or other forms of treatments, and to educate the public on necessary preventive measures that will minimize the risk of infections.”

The Graduate Training Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine prepares scientists for laboratory research at the cellular and molecular level with a direct impact on understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human diseases. The Ph.D. graduates of the program obtain rigorous training in scientific research and develop a thorough knowledge of human biology and disease. The program grew out of the need for graduate training at the interface between medicine and the traditional basic science disciplines. Rapid progress in cellular and molecular biology has strongly impacted clinical medicine, offering insights about the fundamental causes of many diseases. Graduate students in this program are working precisely at this interface to contribute to the long-term well being of society.

She is the daughter of Sylvan and Jean Scott of Baltimore, Md.