The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced the 2025 recipients of its Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) competition, and six Texas State University graduate students and alumni were selected as awardees or recognized with an honorable mention for this highly competitive, prestigious graduate fellowship.
Among this year’s recipients is Erin Mathison, a master’s student in anthropology with a concentration in archaeology.
Mathison received her bachelor of arts in anthropology with a specialization in forensic science from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019, and she is on track to complete her master of arts in August. She will continue her graduate studies at TXST in Fall 2025 in the doctoral program in applied anthropology, under the direction of Heather Smith, Ph.D.
The other recipient, Michala Gradner, is a recent alumna of TXST who received her bachelor of science with honors (summa cum laude) in December 2024.
Gradner majored in applied mathematics and psychology and minored in data analytics. She plans to use her fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin, where she has been admitted to the Ph.D. program in computational science, engineering, and mathematics.
Fellows receive three years of funding for their graduate education during a five-year period. For each year of support, NSF provides a $37,000 stipend and a $16,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees.
In addition to the two awardees, four current and former TXST students (two graduate students and two undergraduate alumni) received the commendation of Honorable Mention.
Grace Morrell, a doctoral student in mathematics education, earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2023. Morrell was previously awarded both the Dreeben Doctoral Merit Fellowship and the Doctoral Retention Scholarship from The Graduate College.
Brandi Reynolds, a master's student in psychological research, earned a bachelor of science with honors (cum laude) in psychology with an emphasis in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience in 2021 from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Reynolds was recently awarded The Graduate College Scholarship and was previously awarded the MAPR Scholarship by TXST's Department of Psychology.
Two alumni, Kiana Holland and Edgar Torres, were also named Honorable Mentions in this year's competition and are both graduate students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Holland received a bachelor of science with honors (cum laude) in 2023 with a double major in microbiology and biochemistry. She first applied to the NSF GRFP as an undergraduate senior and is now a Ph.D. student in genetics and molecular biology. Torres received a bachelor of science in chemistry with a minor in biology and a bachelor of arts in communication studies in 2023, graduating magna cum laude in the Honors College.
This year's applicants were supported by an expanded fellowship advising team in The Graduate College and in the IDEA Center, including Andrea Hilkovitz, Ph.D., Brian Smith, D.M.A., and Cathlin Noonan, M.F.A.