Robert Penna
This spring, Robert Penna '07 became
the first University of Rochester student
in five years to be named a Churchill
Scholar, a rare academic honor.
The award and scholarship is given
annually to 10 students for graduate
study in engineering, mathematics,
or science. This fall, Penna will attend Cambridge University's Churchill College,
pursuing a Certificate of Advanced
Study in Mathematics-Part III of the
Math Tripos, a one-year-taught master's
course in mathematics.
If that weren't enough, Penna was
also honored with a graduate research
fellowship from the National Science
Foundation along with two doctoral
students studying at Rochester.
Penna, an Eden, N.Y., native, already
has an established record as a researcher.
He coauthored a paper with Alice
Quillen, an associate professor of physics
and astronomy, that explores the effect
of solar storms on the space environment
at Earth that was published in the
Journal of Geophysical Research.
He's also worked with
Eric Blackman, professor
of theoretical
astrophysics, to
investigate the
magnetic pressure
and viscosity in
accretion disks, celestial
areas where
gas and interstellar
dust accumulate
near stars and
other space objects,
during his time at the
University.