Andrew Langford has been named a 2021 Goldwater Scholar. Langford is an Honors track physics major with concentrations in astrophysics, applied physics, and advanced physics. He is a Class of 2022 CUSE Sorin Scholar and Lilly Endowment Community Foundation Scholar. Langford hails from Avon, Indiana, and resides in Zahm House on campus.
While at Notre Dame, Langford has completed research in observational astronomy mentored by Colin Littlefield and Prof. Peter Garnavich. He participated in a CubeSat REU program in the summer of 2020 with MIT Haystack Observatory under Dr. Mary Knapp, Dr. Ryan Volz, and Dr. John Swoboda.
Outside of school, Langford enjoys cycling, going to South Bend's Yellow Cat Cafe, and closely following NASA's human spaceflight program. He also hope to become a better skier and hockey player someday.
Langford intends to pursue a Ph.D. in astrodynamics and research spacecraft trajectory design and exoplanet detection techniques.
As the result of a partnership with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs (NDEP), Mrs. Peggy Goldwater Clay, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, announced that the Trustees of the Goldwater Board have increased the number of Goldwater scholarships it has awarded for the 2021 -2022 academic year to 410 college students from across the United States. “As it is vitally important that the Nation ensures that it has the scientific talent it needs to maintain its global competitiveness and security, we saw partnering with the Goldwater Foundation as a way to help ensure the U.S. is developing this talent,” said Dr. Jagadeesh Pamulapati, Director of the NDEP program, as he explained the partnership. With the 2021 awards, this brings the number of scholarships awarded since 1989 by the Goldwater Foundation to 9457.
Also from Notre Dame, Andrew Burke (Stewartsville, NJ, mathematics honors with a concentration in computing, Glynn Scholar) is also a 2021 Goldwater Scholar. This brings the University's total number of Goldwater Scholars since 2013 to 13.