Five Penn third-year students are 2025 Goldwater Scholars

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Five University of Pennsylvania third-year undergraduates have received 2025 Goldwater Scholarships, awarded to second- or third-year students planning research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.

Penn’s 2025 Goldwater Scholars are Tristen Brisky, Caitlyn Chen, Kason Kunkelmann and Nayoon Justina Lee in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Colby Snyder in the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), a dual-degree program between the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

They are among the 441 students named 2025 Goldwater Scholars from 1,350 undergraduate students nominated by 445 academic institutions in the United States, according to the Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence in Education Foundation.

Each scholarship provides up to $7,500 each year for up to two years of undergraduate study.

The students applied for the Goldwater Scholarship with assistance from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. Penn has had 68 Goldwater Scholars named since Congress established the scholarship in 1986 to honor U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater.

Penn’s 2025 Goldwater Scholars:

Tristen Brisky, from Columbus, Wisconsin, is majoring in mathematics with a minor in economics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and submatriculating for a master’s degree in mathematics. His research has been at the intersection of operator algebras and category theory, though his long-term interests lie broadly in algebraic topics surrounding the Langlands program, an intricate set of conjectures connecting various areas of mathematics. Brisky has completed several independent reading projects under the supervision of Penn math professors. Brisky also works as an introductory calculus learning assistant in the Department of Mathematics.

Caitlyn Chen, from Westford, Massachusetts, is majoring in biochemistry, biophysics, and chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, and submatriculating for master’s degrees in biotechnology and chemistry. She conducts research in the MicroSensors and MicroActuators Lab with Professor Mark Allen of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her current work focuses on developing microsensors that harness biochemical tools to diagnose neuromuscular disorders, with the goal of advancing precision medicine through minimally invasive technologies. Chen is interested in supporting the underserved migrant population as a volunteer tutor for refugee patients at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and as a patient navigator with the Center for Surgical Health. She is managing editor for Penn Bioethics Journal, where she focuses on reproductive advocacy for migrant women and children. After graduation, Chen plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in bioengineering to continue research in medical device fabrication.

Kason Kunkelmann, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is double-majoring in physics and mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences and submatriculating for master’s degrees in both subjects. Last year he worked on theoretical condensed matter physics research with Eugene Mele, physics professor in the School of Arts & Sciences, studying quantum states in twisted crystals. Now he is working on a relativistic analogue of that project with Mele, as well as a project on complexified path integrals and their application to conformal field theories with Jonathan Heckman. In the summer of 2023, he took part in the Cornell Mathematics Research Experience for Undergraduates, doing partial differential equations research. Upon graduation, Kunkelmann plans to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical and mathematical high energy physics.

Nayoon Justina Lee, from Plainfield, Illinois, is majoring in physics with a concentration in chemical principles and a minor in chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is also a submatriculant to the Master’s Program in Medical Physics at the Perelman School of Medicine. At Penn, Lee is the president of the Society of Physics Students, creating social and academic programming for undergraduates interested in physics. She serves as a residential advisor in Harrison College House and is a learning assistant for the lab component of the course Electromagnetism, Optics, and Modern Physics. Lee is a Weingarten Center tutor in math, physics, and chemistry, as well as a research peer advisor at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. She also volunteers in the pediatric intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Lee was a recipient of the American Association for Physicists in Medicine Summer Undergraduate Fellowship in 2024.

Colby Snyder, from Reading, Pennsylvania, is majoring in physics and chemical engineering in the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), a dual-degree program between the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. As a materials science researcher in the Composto Research Group of Professor Russell Composto in Penn Engineering, Snyder has published peer-reviewed articles on polymer electrolytes for sodium-ion batteries. Currently, Snyder researches coating materials to address the urban-heat- island effect, and he collaborates with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability to lead a heat mitigation pilot project in Hunting Park. Beyond research, he is a representative for the Penn Engineering Council, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the VIPER Student Board. Snyder also is an undergraduate fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a cellist in the Penn Symphony Orchestra.