Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Award

The University of Rochester’s pool of qualified undergraduate students makes selection for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Award highly competitive.

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) Awards—also known as “Astronaut Scholarships”—are awarded annually to undergraduate students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) majors who are nominated in their sophomore or junior year by their college or university. In addition to high academic achievement, competitive applicants demonstrate passion and talent for scientific work along with a strong commitment to pursue research or technological advancements in their field following graduation.

The award includes scholarship funding for each honoree as well as opportunities to expand their professional network to include astronauts, alumni, and industry leaders.

ASF was created in 1984 by, among others, the six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts and Betty Grissom, widow of the seventh astronaut, Virgil (Gus) Grissom. The foundation’s mission is to ensure the United States remains a global leader in science and technology.

The University of Rochester’s deep pool of potential applicants and the limit of two nominations per institution makes selection for this award highly competitive. Learn more about the Astronaut Scholarship and other fellowship, scholarship, and award opportunities available to Rochester students.

Recent Astronaut Scholar

Congratulations to the most recent Astronaut Scholar from the University of Rochester!

Lilli Tamm ’25
Areas of study: Biochemistry (BS) and philosophy (BA)

Tamm is one of 71 scholars chosen as a 2024 scholar from 48 US universities. She has been an undergraduate research assistant since 2022 in the Hayes Lab and was a Humanities Center Meliora Scholar for 2022–23. Among her many activities at Rochester, she also was a teaching assistant in biology, a Writing Fellow, a workshop leader in philosophy, a resident advisor, and the president of TOOP (The Opposite of People) Theater Company. She will spend the summer of 2024 as an industry intern at Merck, working in its biochemistry and biophysics group in Boston. Tamm was born in Rochester but raised in Paris, France. She now lives in Pittsford, a suburb of Rochester. She plans to pursue a doctorate to conduct research in molecular pharmacology and teach at the university level.

Past Astronaut Scholars

2023-24 Scholar

Margaret (Maggie) Hoare ’24
Area of study: Biochemistry (BS)
Minor: Philosophy

2022-23 Scholar

Loren Cardani ’23
Area of study: Biochemistry (BS)
Minors: Chemistry and Latin American studies

2021-22 Scholar

Madison Lang ’22
Area of study: Biomedical engineering (BS)
Minors: Psychology and mechanical engineering

2020–21 Scholar

Caroline Cardinale ’21
Area of study: Mechanical engineering (BS)

2019–20 Scholar

Daniel Krajovic ’20
Area of study: Chemical engineering (BS)

2018–19 Scholar

Audrey Goldfarb ’19
Area of study: Biology (BA) 
Minor: Journalism

2016–17 and 2017–18 Scholar

Mollie Eva A. Hansen ’18
Area of study: Biomedical engineering (BS)

Scholar 2014–15 and 2015–16

William E. Green ’16
Area of study: Mechanical engineering (BS)

2012–13 and 2013–14 Scholar

Vincent E. Yu ’14
Areas of study: Physics and astronomy (BS) and math (BA)
Minor:Philosophy of science

2010–11 and 2011–12 Scholar

Halley J. Orshan’12
Areas of study: Computer science (BS), math (BA), and computer science (MS)
Minor: Linguistics