Kutztown University honors student Vanessa Maybruck of Allentown was selected as an award recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program in recognition of her high levels of success in her future academic and professional careers.

Maybruck is a mathematics and secondary education dual major with a biochemistry minor.

She is the former president of Delta Alpha Pi International Honor Society IOTA chapter, as well as a member of KU Association for Women in Mathematics and Kutztown University Honors Program.

During her time at KU, she has won countless awards and honors in the areas of her study, leadership and academic achievement.

She is receiving the GRFP fellowship in the category of mathematical sciences/mathematical biology.

The National Science Foundation GRFP award is highly competitive; recipients share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are selected.

This fellowship award provides Maybruck with a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 as well as a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees.

In addition, it provides access to opportunities for professional development to individuals who are anticipated to become knowledge experts that contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering.

Upon applying, Maybruck was assessed on her intellectual merit and broader impacts on society.

She received virtually all ‘excellent’ ratings from the National Science Foundation GRFP review.

The review also noted her well-roundedness as she has and is currently serving in multiple roles that range from academic to volunteer/service based.

Maybruck’s application and selection for this prestigious award have proved she has the skills to maintain and advance the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security, as well as contribute to the economic well-being of society at large.

She will be pursuing her Applied Mathematics Ph.D. at the University of Colorado Boulder. She will also be enrolling in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology Ph.D. Certificate Program.

Maybruck is overjoyed to have been selected.

“The GRFP is extremely competitive, and I am incredibly humbled, grateful and quite honestly stunned to have won,” Maybruck said. “It is an amazing feeling to have my hard work validated like this and know that all those challenges and hours spent were worth it.

“I am very thankful to KU and all the wonderful people here for helping me succeed and ultimately win this award.”

The National Science Foundation GRFP is the country’s oldest fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM fields.

It was established in 1952 as the first program in the foundation’s history to encourage individuals to pursue graduate education in science.

Since its establishment 70 years ago, the National Science Foundation has funded over 60,000 Graduate Research Fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants.

The GRFP has a high rate of doctoral degree completion, with more than 70 percent of students completing their doctorates within 11 years.

For more information, visit nsfgrfp.org.