Undergraduate Scholarships
Wake Forest University has a comprehensive website with information on undergraduate, post-graduate scholarships and fellowships. Interested students are encouraged to examine this website early in their time at Wake Forest, and consult with the director as early as spring of the first year. Students interested in the Peace Corps should also contact the director as well.
The following scholarships and fellowships are available to students who major in physics at Wake Forest University:
Randall Ledford Scholarships in Physics
The Ledford Scholarships are awarded to students who show outstanding potential in physics.
The Randall Ledford Scholarship I is awarded once every four years to a high school student interested in majoring in Physics at Wake Forest University. This is a four-year half-tuition scholarship awarded to a promising incoming physics major attending Wake Forest University. Anyone is eligible to apply for this award during the year it is available. The next time we will be able to accept applications is in the fall of 2023 for a scholarship to be awarded to a student entering in the fall of 2024.
The Randall Ledford Scholarship II is awarded once every four years to a high school student interested in majoring in Physics at Wake Forest University. This is a four-year half-tuition scholarship awarded to a promising incoming physics major attending Wake Forest University who is currently attending high school in North Carolina. Applications are currently being accepted with a deadline of February 15, 2022 for the scholarship consideration letter.
This scholarship is funded through the generosity of Dr. Randall D. Ledford, WFU class of 1972. Dr. Ledford is Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of Emerson Electric Company, one of the world’s leading electronics companies. Before joining Emerson Electric, Dr. Ledford was president and general manager of several divisions of Texas Instruments Inc. including software, digital imaging, enterprise solutions and process automation. He began his career at Bell Telephone Laboratories where he worked on UNIX development, fiber optic communication and microwave transmissions. While at Texas Instruments, Dr. Ledford led the company’s development of the Digital Light Processor (DLP). The size of a postage stamp, this device is the world’s most complex microelectromechanical machine, with 1.3 million parts. The DLP was featured in the first digital theater premiere of a major motion picture, Star Wars: Episode I.
To apply for this award:
- Complete the Wake Forest University application for admission either in paper or online. See http://admissions.wfu.edu
. - At least one recommendation should come from someone who can comment on your potential in science.
- Include a brief letter asking to be considered for the Ledford Scholarship, describing how you became interested in science, describing your career aspirations, and describing how this scholarship will benefit you. Please send your brief letter to:
- Ledford Scholarship
Department of Physics
Olin Physical Laboratory
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7507
- Ledford Scholarship
Want to find out more about our department or the scholarship? Please come and visit. We can coordinate your visit with our admissions office and a campus tour. Give me a call, write, or send e-mail:
Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro
Professor of Physics and Harbert Family Distinguished Chair for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship
Biophysics
Experimental and some computational biophysics, nitric oxide, hemoglobin and other heme proteins, blood flow, and Sickle cell and other cardiovascular diseases
208 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 216 Olin Physical Laboratory
SMART Scholarships
The SMART scholarship was stablished by the department of Defense (DoD) to support the education and recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields for recruiting and retaining civilian scientists and engineers to work in DoD agencies and laboratories. Students may apply at any stage of their undergraduate program.
Goldwater Scholarships
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is designed to attract outstanding students into careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit to students who are sophomores or juniors during the current academic year and who have excellent academic records and demonstrated interest in and potential for careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The scholarship covers eligible expenses for tuition, fees, books, and room and board to a maximum of $7,500 per academic year. The application deadline is December 1 (internal for nomination) and the last Friday in January (national deadline).
Churchill Scholarships
The Churchill Scholarship is for one year of graduate study in engineering, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge University in England. The scholarship is available to graduating seniors. To apply please contact the Wake Forest Scholars Director, Dr. Tom Phillips by May 15 your junior year with an “expressed intention to apply” in order to allow ample time for development of your application. The national deadline is on or around November 1 your senior year.
Fulbright Scholarships
Fulbright Scholarships provide students with a bachelor’s degree the opportunity to study or affiliate for one year at a foreign institution. To apply please contact the Wake Forest Scholars Director, Dr. Tom Phillips by May 15 your junior year with an “expressed intention to apply” in order to allow ample time for development of your application. The final application deadlines your senior year are September 1 (internal for nomination) and on or around October 9th (national deadline).
Marshall Scholarships
Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Up to forty Scholars are selected each year to study at graduate level at an UK institution in any field of study. As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions. To apply, please contact the Wake Forest Scholars Director, Dr. Tom Phillips by May 15 your junior year with an “expressed intention to apply” in order to allow ample time for development of your application. The final application deadlines your senior year are August 1 (internal for nomination) with a national deadline is on or around October 1 your senior year.
Rhodes Scholarships
The Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world.Rhodes Scholars are chosen not only for their outstanding scholarly achievements, but for their character, commitment to others and to the common good, and for their potential for leadership in whatever domains their careers may lead. To apply please contact the Wake Forest Scholars Director, Dr. Tom Phillips by May 1 your junior year with an “expressed intention to apply” in order to allow ample time for development of your application.The national deadline is the first Wednesday of October your senior year.