Tower-Fall-2020

4 TOWER | FALL 2020 EXOPLANET DISCOVERY AND NSF GRANT Dr. Philip Reed ’03 (pictured center), professor of physical sciences, along with Daniel Johns ’20 (physics/ astronomy) and Ryan Rauenzahn ’19 (mathematics, physics/astronomy), discovered exoplanet KELT-23Ab. The exoplanet is located 408 light- years from Earth, and is a “hot Jupiter,” or giant, gaseous planet, like our Jupiter. The discovery, which was featured in an article in the Astronomical Journal , arose from KU’s participation in the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) exoplanet discovery project, which is owned and operated by Lehigh, Ohio State and Vanderbilt Universities. As a result of his research, published articles and presentations, Johns (pictured on left) was awarded the Syed R. Ali-Zaidi Award for Academic Excellence, which is conferred upon a graduating senior from one of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities. In spring 2020, he also was the recipient of KU’s Chambliss Academic Achievement Award Gold Medal in the category of successfully completed research projects. He is pursuing a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics at Georgia State University. The National Science Foundation awarded Kutztown University nearly $244,000 for a student research grant. The grant will allow under- graduate students the opportunity to be paid research assistants at KU and travel abroad to take their research work to the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Beginning in 2021, four undergraduate students will be selected every year for the next three years to participate in the grant program. “This is an amazing research opportunity for our students, to help hunt for exoplanets with our on-campus observatory, and to then spend the summer in Australia working with cutting-edge astronomical instrumentation,” Reed said. NEWS NOTES academics $2 Million in New Scholarships Awarded Kutztown University announced that it invested $2 million in new scholarships for Fall 2020. The new KU Merit Scholarships, in addition to the uni- versity’s current scholarship offerings, range from $1,000 to $7,000, and are awarded based on the prospective student’s admission profile. First-time students and transfers are eligible for the scholarships immediately for the 2020–21 academic year. Prospective students can learn more about all of KU’s scholarship opportunities at www.kutztown.edu/scholarships . “There are many students interested in a quality education who could pursue a bachelor’s degree with additional financial help,” said Dr. Warren Hilton, vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. “We believe the investment in merit scholarships will allow us to help many qualified students realize their dream in an environment that is second to none.”