Two Students Receive Goldwater Scholarships

Haverford students Jonah Hoffmann-Weitsman ’26 and Oliver Wilson ’26 have each been awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year, the Trustees of the Goldwater Board announced. Their selection marks the third year in a row that two Fords have received the honor, which recognizes exceptional students seeking careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, or engineering. 

Hoffmann-Weitsman, a chemistry major, and Wilson, a physics, astronomy, and French triple major, represent two of the 441 Goldwater Scholarships provided to college students across the United States. Presented annually since 1989 by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, the competitive scholarships provide up to $7,500 annually for up to two years of undergraduate study. Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships in the sciences, they honor the legacy of Barry Goldwater, a World War II veteran, long-serving U.S. Senator from Arizona, and unsuccessful 1964 Republican presidential candidate.

Wilson’s fascination with space and astronomy began at a young age, and that interest has only intensified since he arrived on Haverford’s campus three years ago. As he has delved more deeply into his studies, he’s found himself drawn to high-energy astrophysics, which, he says, “has the advantage of being tied to more fundamental questions about the universe.” His research is focused on pulsars, the incredibly dense, rapidly spinning neutron stars across the universe that regularly emit electromagnetic radiation. 

His first research project at Haverford, completed under the mentorship of Research Associate Wynn Ho, explored the gravitational waves that pulsars produce. Wilson and Ho focused on waves produced by pulsar glitches to explore how those waves might be used to create the equation of state for the dense material of which pulsars are composed. Their findings were published in Physical Review last year, with Wilson as the lead author. 

“I have had a truly incredible experience with research thus far,” Wilson says. “I have found myself staying up into the early morning or missing meals unwittingly, engrossed in a riveting paper I am reading or a coding problem I am determined to solve.”

This fall, his research took a new step when he traveled to West Virginia’s Green Bank Observatory, where he gained new experience in observational astronomy and measured the timing of pulsar pulses. That hands-on experience, which included taking radio data by hand and using the observatory’s telescopes, cemented his interest in uncovering the universe’s secrets and has informed his current research project that examines how particles might be produced in pulsars’ powerful magnetic fields. 

Wilson says he’s thrived in Haverford’s collaborative research environment, where mentors like Ho and Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Daniel Grin encouraged him to take ownership of his projects. 

“I think I would not have gotten this award if I was at any other place than Haverford,” Wilson says. “The advantage of being a small school is that, proportionally, there are more research positions available and professors can work with students much more closely. We’re also given a lot of trust and independence in our projects.” 

As he looks to the future, Wilson says he plans to pursue his Ph.D. in astrophysics and establish himself as a leader in the growing field. He envisions a career where he can contribute to meaningful discoveries while advocating for a higher level of engagement with science among the broader public. 

Despite his early interest in science, the path toward chemistry wasn’t immediately apparent for Hoffmann-Weitsman when he was growing up in Lancaster, Ohio. In the small city of 35,000, which sits 33 miles from Columbus, “aspirations seldom stray far from home,” he says. “I was told that if I did not want to immediately enter the workforce, I should go to a local state school ‘like everyone else.’”

Despite those prevailing attitudes and the lack of a college advisor at his high school, his father, a professor of Russian history at Ohio State University, encouraged him to pursue his academic ambitions. While searching for colleges on his own, he came across Haverford in a guide and was struck by the match between the name of his hometown and Haverford’s address on Lancaster Avenue. 

“Haverford stuck out to me because it fit everything I was looking for,” he recalls. “I was searching for a small liberal arts school that is academically rigorous but also emphasizes collaboration.” 

Following his first semester of general chemistry, Hoffmann-Weitsman wasted little time seeking out research opportunities and found one with Professor of Chemistry Alex Norquist. “He was so encouraging and enthusiastic about me joining his lab,” Hoffmann-Weitsman says. “That got me invested in chemistry in a way that I hadn't found myself invested in any other subject.”

His time in Norquist’s lab focused on hybrid materials, a subject closely aligned with Hoffmann-Weitsman’s interest in developing next-generation materials for a more sustainable future. Last fall, while studying abroad at the University of Melbourne in Australia, he dove further into research surrounding chiral sensing while working with his advisor, Carol Hua, a senior lecturer in exciton science. Hoffmann-Weitsman says Hua gave him the opportunity to complete independent research, giving him a taste of graduate-level work and instilling within him a new level of confidence. 

Now, back at Haverford, Hoffmann-Weitsman is preparing for his senior thesis, which will focus on intermetallics, an emerging field with promising engineering applications. After Haverford, he plans to pursue his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry and contribute to the development of green energy technologies.

“I think that we all have a strong obligation to the environment and to the natural world,” he says. “I think that inorganic chemistry is my chance to really make headway in that area and help develop materials that will have significant applications in the future.”

The next application cycle for the Goldwater Scholarship will begin in early September, with an application deadline for Haverford students on Dec. 1. Those interested in applying should contact Director of Fellowships Jason Chan to learn more about the application process.

Read more about Fords who have won fellowships, scholarships, or grants.