Marie Sklodowska Curie Science Achievement Graduate Scholarship in Chemistry

Katherine Kidder, graduate student in chemistry, is interested in the field of theoretical chemistry, where she can utilize her skills in both chemistry and math. She has co-authored two scientific papers. A professor from her undergraduate studies commented that “she is the rare undergraduate research student who wants to figure things out on her own.” Kidder earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mathematics at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

The scholarship in chemistry is named for Marie Sklodowska Curie, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her discovery of radioactivity and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for her discovery of polonium and radium. She is the first person to win the award twice and was the first female professor at the University of Sorbonne in Paris. Her techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes were used under her direction in the world’s first studies into the treatment of cancer.