A Cocke County High Schoolgraduate is one of three Universityof Tennessee-Knoxvillestudents recently awarded the prestigious
Goldwater Scholarship. WilliamBradley O'Dell, son of Joy Drew and Kathy O'Dell, Newport, along with Jamie Elise Troupe
andCasey Jameson Williams, received the scholarship, which provides the costs oftuition, fees,
books, and room and board. O'Dell's scholarship is for $7,500.
A fourth student, Elizabeth Anne
Jacobs, received anhonorable mention in the scholarship competition.
O'Dell, who completed his
elementary school studies at Bridgeport Elementary
School, graduated as one ofthe valedictorians of his high school class.
He is in the Chancellor's Honorsand College Scholars programs at UTK and is majoring in structural
chemistry.
O'Dell's future
goals include earning his master's degreeand doctorate in physical chemistry and then conducting
research on molecularstructures and dynamics at either a scientific institute or international
userfacility.
He is the grandson of Eulala O'Dell, Newport, the late Monroe O'Dell, and
LawrenceStinnett, Cosby, and the late Glennie Stinnett.
With three recipients and one
honorable mention, UTKmatches Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Duke
inthis year's Goldwater competition and furthers its national reputation forhigh-quality
undergraduate education in mathematics, the natural sciences, andengineering.
Nationwide, 321 sophomores and juniors received thescholarships, awarded by the Barry M.
Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence inEducation Foundation. There were 1,035 applicants, and the
recipients werechosen on academic merit.
The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agencyand
honors Senator Barry M. Goldwater by fostering and encouraging outstandingstudents to pursue careers
in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences,and engineering.
In its 20-year history, the Goldwater Foundation hasawarded 5,523 scholarships worth
approximately $54 million.
