Furman senior awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Kristina Pardo will pursue a Ph.D. degree in astrophysics at Princeton University.

Kristina Pardo, a Furman University senior from Weston, Fla., has been selected as the recipient of a prestigious 2014 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

Pardo, who will graduate with a degree in physics and mathematics from Furman in May, will pursue her doctorate in astrophysics at Princeton University.

Each Fellowship provides a three-year, annual stipend of $32,000, a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees, and opportunities for international research and professional development.

The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships are designed to recognize scientific achievement at the undergraduate level and professional promise in graduate school for students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited national institutions.

In addition to being selected as a Furman Fellow and Blackwell Scholar, Pardo was also named a Minority Scholar by the American Physical Society. She co-founded Furman’s nationally-recognized robotics team and is an accomplished musician who plays in the Furman Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band.

Pardo spent the summer conducting research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with physics professor Edmund Bertschinger. They presented their research on black holes at the January 2014 American Astronomical Society meeting and the 2013 Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science conference.

A graduate of the American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla., she is the daughter of Antonio and Nadja Pardo of Weston, Fla.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is the country’s oldest graduate fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Since 1952, the Foundation has funded more than 47,000 Graduate Research Fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants.

For more information, contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.