Prolific chemistry student wins Churchill Scholarship

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Prolific chemistry student wins Churchill Scholarship

Feb. 4, 2014 by Susannah Brooks

As a child, Joshua Shutter's introduction to chemistry came through library books, learning to make rock candy and bottle rockets. ... "I never would have thought that someday I would be helping to search for molecules in interstellar space as a physical chemist," he says.

Shutter has become one of only 14 young American scholars selected as 2014 recipients of the Churchill Scholarship, one of the most sought-after recognitions in higher education. The scholarship will allow him to complete a one-year Master of Philosophy (MPhil) at the University of Cambridge while residing at Churchill College.

"This kind of event is of a stature that can be life- and career-changing," says Bob McMahon, professor and chair of chemistry and one of Shutter's research mentors, along with chemistry professor R. Claude Woods. "We're all so excited for him."

Shutter's win adds to a remarkable year of achievements by UW-Madison students. The university is one of only four American institutions (including Harvard, Princeton and the Georgia Institute of Technology) boasting Rhodes, Marshall and Churchill scholars in the same year.