Posted on April 5, 2002 at 9:04 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) junior Ajay Kamireddi, 20, of Huntsville, has been selected as a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar for the academic year 2002-2003. He is the first UAB student to receive the scholarship.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, established by Congress in 1986, was created to honor the late U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater. The purpose of the program is to help provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers by awarding scholarships to undergraduate students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

Goldwater Scholars are selected on the basis of academic merit. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 44 Rhodes Scholarships, 39 Marshall Awards and numerous other distinguished fellowships. One- and two-year Goldwater scholarships amount to a maximum of $7,500 and include tuition, fees, books, and room and board.

Kamireddi will receive a $7,500 scholarship. He is one of 309 students selected from a field of 1,155 sophomores and juniors nominated from colleges and universities nationwide. He is one of five Alabamians awarded scholarships this year.

Kamireddi is pursuing a dual major in biology and philosophy with plans to become a professor of medicine and a gene therapy researcher. He is a student in the Honors Program at UAB and is part of the Early Medical School Acceptance Program (EMSAP). He also is past vice president of the Golden Key Honor Society.

While at UAB, he has worked with Associate Professor Patricia Goode, Ph.D., in a research project on the effectiveness of alternative medicines in treating urge incontinence. He also worked with Alabama A & M University researcher Al Zipf, Ph.D., on a project using transgenic wheat DNA to create hybrid species of oats.

Kamireddi was a 2001 recipient of the Ford Motor Company Undergraduate Student Award and a 1999 member of the USA Today All-Academic High School Team.

In addition to his academic studies, Kamireddi is vice-president of the UAB Ambassadors, an elite group of students who work as official hosts and hostesses for UAB events. He also has been a volunteer with the shelter Bread and Roses and a mentor at Arrington Middle School.

Kamireddi is a 1999 graduate of Virgil I. Grissom High School. He is the son of Chandra and Indira Kamireddi of Huntsville.