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Ganev is Goldwater Scholar

04/18/2008

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Iordan Ganev awarded Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

Miami University student Iordan Ganev, a sophomore mathematics and statistics and environmental science co-major from Oxford, has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship - the most prestigious award of its type for undergraduates in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering.

He is among 321 Goldwater Scholars selected nationwide on the basis of academic merit. The scholarship provides up to $7,500 per year for college expenses. Only 16 students from Ohio schools, public and private, were selected.

Ganev has worked with mentors Nancy Solomon, professor of zoology, and Brian Keane, associate professor of zoology, Miami Hamilton, since he was a first year student, conducting statistical analyses on how data from field studies of prairie voles can be used to interpret the species' social organization and behavior. He is a contributing writer to a manuscript for submission to the Journal of Mammology, and co-author of a presentation on the project that will be given at the International Society for Behavioral Ecology meeting this summer, according to Solomon.

He is also working with Tom Farmer, associate professor of mathematics and statistics, on a research project involving algebraic groups. This summer he will conduct research with mentors Doug Noe, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, and Hank Stevens, associate professor of botany, as an undergraduate summer scholar. He will compare different inferential methods in mixed models in order to make them more applicable to ecological studies.

Ganev is "probably the best undergraduate that I have worked with...he is excited about learning and passionate about science and mathematics," said Solomon. "He is one of the few students I have met who has started attending departmental and informal research seminars as a first year student."

Ganev is a Harrison Scholar and member of Miami's honors program. He is a member of the astronomy club and the math club, among others. He has been involved in an archaeological dig in Israel, and plans to study abroad during his time at Miami.

After graduation, he plans to pursue a doctorate in mathematics.
The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was established in 1986 to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.