Creighton nominated four students for the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship this year: Arts & Sciences juniors Natalie German and Anastasia Yanchilina and Arts & Sciences sophomores Katherine Garrett and Rajeev Anchan.

All four won.

“These people, their applications showed a real passion for doing science,” said Dr. Michael Cherney, Creighton’s faculty representative for the Goldwater. “They are choosing to do this because they find meaning in what they’re doing.”

According to its Web site, Congress established the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program in 1986.

The program awards scholarships to sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in math, science or engineering. The scholarships are worth up to $7,500 per academic year.

This year, the scholarship was given out to 321 students. Creighton was one of only six schools to have all four of its applicants be awarded with scholarships, along with Vanderbilt, Washington University in St. Louis, the Rochester Institute of Technology, Ohio State and Louisiana State. Creighton also had more Goldwater scholars than any other Catholic school.

“I think it’s a real feather in their cap,” said Gerald Smith, the program’s president, about schools that go four for four. “The competition for this thing is extraordinary.”

Cherney said that Creighton has had some recent success with the Goldwater. The university has had seven scholars in the last four years. However, this is the first year in which the University has had all four of its applicants win.

A record number of Creighton students applied for the Goldwater this year, about 130 in all, Cherney said. Students first fill out pre-application forms, which are then reviewed by a committee of faculty members.

A select group of students are invited to fill out another application. This group of applications is reviewed by another committee, and the group is pared down again.

The final group of students is invited to fill out the complete application, and then four students are selected.

These four are then judged by the program, with some being selected to receive a scholarship. Cherney was notified last Friday that all four of Creighton’s applicants had won.

He immediately notified the winners.

Yanchilina has been researching ocean-surface temperatures and how they relate to precipitation in West Africa. She said she couldn’t believe it when she heard she had won and that she had to check for herself on the program’s Web site.

“I was just really happy, I jumped up and down,” Yanchilina said.

German hopes to go to graduate school and do research on Alzheimer’s disease.

“It’s hard to understand, even now, how important it [winning the Goldwater] is,” she said. “Alzheimer’s is something to that has affected my family personall. I want to get into that and use science to help out.”

Cherney said that one of the most rewarding things about working with the students and faculty on these applications is seeing it all come together.

“You really feel the amount of time you invested, over the months, was worth it,” he said.