Newswise — Astrophysicist France A. Córdova, the 14th director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), will receive the Honorary CUR Fellows Award at an April 30 reception during the Council on Undergraduate Research’s 2019 Posters on the Hill event on Capitol Hill.
Córdova leads the only government agency charged with advancing all fields of scientific discovery; technological innovation; and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The first female chief scientist at NASA, she has served as chair of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents; president of Purdue University; chancellor of the University of California, Riverside; vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Santa Barbara; head of the astronomy and astrophysics department at Penn State; and deputy group leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her research has centered on observational and experimental astrophysics, x-ray and gamma ray sources, and space-borne instrumentation. She earned her BA from Stanford University and her doctorate in physics from the California Institute of Technology.
Posters on the Hill, CUR’s signature student advocacy event, is held in partnership with the American Chemical Society. Accompanied by their faculty mentors, 60 exceptional undergraduates will share their research on April 29–30 with Members of Congress, congressional staff, and federal government officials, as well as highlight the value of federal investment in undergraduate research.
Said Elizabeth L. Ambos, executive officer for the Council on Undergraduate Research, “CUR is extremely pleased to honor the achievements and leadership of France Córdova in expanding support and diverse opportunities for undergraduate researchers in STEM.”
Said Córdova, “For more than 40 years, the Council on Undergraduate Research has voiced the important role undergraduate researchers play in the scientific enterprise. As such, it has been a staunch ally in NSF’s efforts to support undergraduate research. I was delighted to learn that I was this year’s recipient of the CUR Honorary Fellows Award. I’ve dedicated much of my career to supporting undergraduate research, which I have called the ‘other half’ of a great educational experience. Thus this award has special meaning for me. It will continually remind me that undergraduate research can transform young lives, creating new pathways for their future.”
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