Congratulations to Christopher Zhou, a Chemistry TAMS student working with Dr. Thomas Cundari's Research Group, for being one of two UNT recipients of the 2020 Goldwater Scholarship Award. With the added guidance of Catherine Moulder, a Chemistry graduate student working in the Cundari Research Group, Christopher studied the catalytic potential of first-row transition metals via density functional theory and ab initio computational methods.

"He is first author of an article in the journal ACS Omega, in which he has made new contributions to the field of organometallic chemistry," said James Duban, TAMS Associate Dean for Research and National Scholarships. Dr. Sushama Dandekar, Senior Lecturer in the Chemistry Department, was also instrumental in Christopher's success in receiving the Goldwater Scholarship.

For his future plans, Christopher says, "I want to pursue a PhD in computational chemistry and research catalyst design at an Energy Frontier Research Center, focusing in methane conversion and the development of alternative-energy resources." Zhou was also the recipient of the 2019 Steve and Kathy Weiner Research Scholarship, presented by the TAMS program at their Fall Convocation in 2019.

In the past, nominees were judged against nominees from their own state. This year, nominees were judged against nominees from around the nation in the same fields of research.

According to the Goldwater Foundation website, "The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to serve as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate."