Awards Season

The months leading up to commencement are awards season at Santa Clara University. Rising seniors Riley Carpenter ’25 and Claire Alford ’25 got major national nods for their work in STEM.

Carpenter, an engineering/physics major, was selected for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the nation’s top scholarships for undergraduates in STEM. Last summer, Carpenter’s interest in material science led him to work with physics Professor Betty A. Young and researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford Nanofabrication Facility. The scholarship will provide funding for him to continue his research developing dark matter detectors in frigid environments.

Alford, a descendant of the Absentee-Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma, is a Morris K. Udall and Steward L. Udall Foundation Scholar. The scholarship awards those committed to the environment, Native American healthcare, or tribal public policy. A public health science major, Alford is studying the biological and chemical functioning of the human body and the influence of the environment and societal factors on health.

After graduating, she plans to attend medical school and make healthcare more accessible to Native Americans—something she’s already pursued through her work as president of the University’s Native American Coalition for Change (NACC). Sonja Mackenzie, chair of the public health department, called Alford a “shining example of future leaders” in the field. “Her desire to advance Native American healthcare and her commitment to addressing public health challenges through innovative research and community engagement are truly commendable,” Mackenzie says.