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Physics student Diego Menendez leans on a large white column at Memorial Union Hall at Oregon State University. He has his arms crossed in front of him and he smiles at the camera. The hall behind him stretches on with a series of large white columns.
Diversity in Science

Physics student dedicated to increasing access to STEM

Phyisics student Diego Menendez will begin classes for his final year at Oregon State during Hispanic Heritage Month 2024, right after his last LSAMP bridges experience as a program mentor. When asked what Hispanic Heritage Month means to him, he said, “I feel like during that month and other identity-based celebration months, people are just so proud of where they come from, who they are, and their lineage, their people, their families. I love that. I'm a very proud Cuban all the time.”

A white lightbulb illustration with yellow confetti in the background.
Events

Celebrating inclusive excellence, administration, service and performance: 2024 College of Science Awards

The College of Science gathered on Feb. 29 to recognize and celebrate our high achieving faculty and staff at the 2024 Combined Awards Ceremony.

The following faculty and staff received awards in the categories of Inclusive Excellence, Administration, Service and Performance.

Congratulations to all the awardees!

Nima Laal headshot
Graduate students

Martin O'Neill fellow Nima Laal changing the picture of modern physics

Physics Ph.D. candidate Nima Laal has a poster on his wall of an alien spaceship. The text on the bottom reads “I want to believe.”

To Laal, the poster isn’t referencing creatures from another planet, but instead the search for elusive gravitational waves.

black photo with white snowflakes and picture of a cell
Events

2021-22 College of Science awards: Celebrating excellence in research and administration

The College of Science gathered yesterday on February 22 to recognize academic and teaching excellence of our esteemed faculty and staff at the College's 2021-22 Combined Awards Ceremony. The first half of the ceremony celebrated exceptional research and administration.

Isabel Rodriguez is the 2021 Harriet “Hattie” Redmond Awardee!
Graduate students

Isabel Rodriguez is the 2021 Harriet 'Hattie' Redmond Awardee

Congratulations to Isabel Rodriguez (M.S. Physics '21) for being the 2021 recipient of the Harriet “Hattie” Redmond Award. This award celebrates a member of the OSU community who works as an agent of change in service of racial justice and gender equity.

OSU Graduation cap
Students

The Class of 2021 succeeds against all odds

The College of Science will graduate 670 undergraduate students with baccalaureate degrees in 2020-21, including 68 Honors graduates.

Oregon State physics graduate with daughter amid tulips.
Students

From a construction job to Hewlett Packard, a physics major takes an unconventional path to reach his goals

Rohal Kakepoto valued the expertise of the faculty and the intimate and supportive atmosphere of the physics department. Like many of Oregon State physics graduates, Kakepoto landed a job as an engineer at Hewlett Packard in Corvallis, which he will start right before graduation.

Mai Sakuragi in front of a coastal view
Students

Succeeding in physics with determination and focus after a nontraditional start

If there is one thing that Mai Sakuragi has learned during her time at Oregon State University, it is that, with passion and hard work, even seemingly impossible goals can be achieved.

Tyler Parsotan in front of American flag and blue backdrop
Physics

Two physics graduate students win 2019 NASA grants

Two College of Science graduate students have received prestigious NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology awards in 2019.

Edward and Janet Chen with Roy Haggerty in lobby
Alumni and Friends

Distinguished Service Award: Embracing a legacy of Chinese scholarship

Edward and Janet Chen along with John Donnelly, on behalf of the Wei Family Foundation, will receive the College of Science Distinguished Service Award for their extraordinary commitment to the university and institution.

Jesse Rodriguez in front of Kidder Hall
Students

The triple crown of science: Graduating with degrees in math, physics and nuclear engineering

Math, physics and nuclear engineering senior Jesse Rodriguez isn’t your average student by most measures. A transfer student, Rodriguez enjoyed an incredible and wide-ranging learning experience where his classes in the different subjects led him to many wonderful insights about the deeper connections among his majors, and ultimately to a more solid understanding of science itself. He was one of just 26 students in 2018 to earn a prestigious Department of Energy fellowship that will pay for his Ph.D. at Stanford University to study plasma physics.

Abe Teklu in front of the Valley Library
Students

A senior's gut decision in high school to major in physics holds steady four years later

Looking back on his gut decision in high school to major in physics, graduating senior Abe Teklu remains somewhat mystified.