by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Some people demean UNM as just a state school, but the education students receive is comparable to top universities, said Louis Metzger, UNM alumnus and Duke University graduate student.
Metzger, a 2003 Goldwater Scholar, was invited to speak Tuesday at the unveiling of a plaque commending UNM students who have received national Fulbright, Truman, Rhodes, Marshall and Goldwater scholarships since 1955.
The plaque will hang permanently in the SUB atrium.
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The Student Union Board wanted to publicly recognize the University's scholars on an ongoing basis, said Walt Miller, director of the SUB.
"We've sort of gone back into history to pick up, and so now every year when we have new students who receive a Rhodes or something, their name will be placed here publicly," Miller said.
Metzger won the Goldwater based on work he did with molecular modeling and cancer, he said.
"It was a very basic biomedical project, so we were looking at it at a molecular level, not at patient level," he said. "That was the core of my Goldwater proposal. "
Metzger went on to win the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2005.
"I really could not have done it without the support from the UNM faculty, my mentor and fellow students," Metzger said. "I was delighted to be invited to this."
Metzger said he wants to help UNM get more alumni donations.
"I'm not able to write a million-dollar check, but I'd also like to emphasize you don't have to win national fellowships to be successful," he said. "You need to get a good education to be successful. It isn't about national fellowships, and it isn't about plaques on walls - it's about enjoying education and going out there and doing the best you can."
The ceremony was a testament to the quality of students UNM attracts and the quality of education they receive, said UNM President Louis Caldera.
"I'm always blown away by the things that our students have achieved," Caldera said. "And it's a story that we've got to do a better job of telling. This is a great place to do it, right at the home of the students."
He said the list of student achievements is longer than the list on the plaque.
"There just aren't enough of those kinds of recognitions for the number of students we are graduating that have the ability to compete at that kind of level," Caldera said.
UNM senior Frank Hemingway won the 2005 Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Scholarship is oriented to math, science and engineering students.
"I had research experience, and that was one of the strong points in my application," Hemingway said. "I think that's probably one of the reasons why I got the scholarship. One of the things that makes UNM stand out is the opportunity for students to do undergraduate research."
The Goldwater Scholarship awards students up to $7,500 for one year or two, depending on if they're sophomores or juniors, he said. He said he won the scholarship as a junior and is entitled to one year of funding. He plans to finish his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
