Soon she will be frolicking among the colleges, thinkin' 'bout black holes, hummin' some tunes

We’d like to extend some big fat congratulations to Erin Kara, BC ’11, who has just won the Gates scholarship.

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, offers full rides to non-UK students for graduate work at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship is awarded based on “intellectual ability, leadership capacity and desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society.”

Hailing from Bethlehem (PA!), Erin majors in Physics with a minor in Art History. In her spare time she researches Active Galactic Nuclei, and hopes to continue research in high-energy astrophysics at Cambridge, focusing on the mysterious accretion disks that physicists believe power black holes. Erin will pursue an MPhil in Physics from the Institute of Astronomy there, which she plans on following up with a PhD in physics, with a view to a career in research and teaching.

She may be more familiar to you as the music director of Uptown Vocal, a jazz a cappella group on campus, who perform new arrangements of classic standards. She adds that they have a concert on campus next Wednesday evening with a British all-male group (aww!). We wish her the very best of luck next year!

Image via Wikimedia