High School and College Students Hail from 20 New Jersey Counties
The Governor's STEM Scholars (GSS) is proud to welcome 129 New Jersey students into their 2023-2024 class. Selected among nearly 1,000 applicants from across this state, these students represent some of the highest achieving students in New Jersey.
GSS is a public-private partnership between the Research & Development Council of New Jersey, the Office of the Governor, the New Jersey Department of Education, the New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education, and public and private research institutions. GSS works to sustain and strengthen New Jersey’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) talent pipeline by introducing the state’s STEM students to the R&D and STEM ecosystem.
New Jersey has the highest concentration of engineers and scientists per square mile in the United States, according to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Recognizing New Jersey’s rich talent pool, GSS serves as a vital bridge for talented STEM students to connect with research and STEM professionals within the industry, academia, and government sectors. By creating this vital bridge we are building up New Jersey’s STEM network.
“New Jersey’s long-tradition of innovation, from the invention of the lightbulb to the development of the first transistor, are powered by some of the best scientists, engineers and inventors in the world,” said Anthony Cicatiello, President of the Research & Development Council of New Jersey. “Through the Governor’s STEM Scholars, we are able to support the next generation of innovators right here in the Garden State, ensuring a continued legacy of invention and discovery that will drive our economy into the future.”
Through conferences, field trips, and research, Scholars are able to explore professional opportunities that can jumpstart their future STEM careers. Scholars attend four conferences to explore the STEM sectors of industry, academia, and government. For the 2023-2024 programmatic year, these conferences will be held at Kean University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Rutgers University.
Additionally, Scholars build relationships with diverse STEM professionals by attending field trips and fireside chats at New Jersey companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Kenvue, Panasonic, PSEG, Stryker, and United Airlines. Scholars participate in an engineering design research project that will enhance their analytical and 21st century skills.
GSS prides itself in selecting a class that is representative of the diversity of New Jersey. Scholars hail from 20 of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Sixty-three percent of the class identify as female and 82 percent as students of color. When these Scholars graduate in May 2024, they will join an alumni cohort of nearly 900 Scholars.
“Through the Governor’s STEM Scholars, New Jersey STEM students are able to learn from and engage with some of the state’s top STEM and R&D professionals, enhancing the students’ knowledge and understanding of career opportunities and introducing them to the STEM economy in New Jersey,” said Alise Roderer, Director of the Governor’s STEM Scholars. “With this career knowledge and exposure, we are setting these high school and college students on a path to achieve excellence in jobs of the future.”
To qualify for GSS, applicants must have at least a 3.5 GPA, be a high school sophomore through doctoral-level student at a New Jersey-based high school or university, and demonstrate a strong passion for STEM.
The 2023-2024 Governor’s STEM Scholars are:
Matthew Abad
Fatima Abella*
Yeheira Acosta
Nishi Agrawal
Myra Almeida
Cristina Altamirano*
Sarvesh Anand
Krystinna Arevalo
Michelle Ayala
Kerat Bangar*
Mina Basaly*
Suchit Basineni
Julissa Beltrán
Isha Bhatia
Hazel Bonilla
Animesh Borad*
Robert Bress
Malorie Brown
Alexandra Bruno
Kayrine Calderon
Kailan Campbell
Carolina Caro Cano*
Seidy Castillo
Pooja Challi
Juan Chang
Sofia Colella
Michael Domenech
Tionna Dunn
Valerie Duran
Noor EL-Hawwat*
Carolyn Eloy
Katherine Estevanell
Jolie Estevao
Omolola Falana
Aden Falk
Akintunde Fasoro
Razil Fernandes
Isabella Fernandes-Santinho
Mircea Florescu*
Adam Freedman
Kenny Frias
Jenny Gao
Hector Gonzalez*
Ian Grenda
Carolyn He
Lawrence He
Emily Hickey
Shelby Hilarczyk
Liliana Hopkins*
Madeline Hunt
Cinthia Hussein*
Shreyaah Iyer
Andrés Jaquez Cruz
Claire Jiang
Nairenny Jimenez
Kaelyn Johnson
Elizabeth Justin
Raifah Kader
Alexander Kang
Ashley Kim
Marlene Krueger
Anvita Kulkarni
Peter Kutuzov*
Sonal Lakhani
Jiwoo Lee
Keira Lee
Anita Lemus Rivera
Daniel Leykin
Angelina Lin
Charlotte Liu
Lily Liu
Alisson Lopez Donado*
Lola López-Spencer
Madison MacKenzie
Alexandra MacMullin
Nidhi Mandrekar
Muhammad Mir*
Brianna Mosley
Dennise Munyao
Arata Nakano
Pari Narang
Ashley Noboa
Jacob Normand*
Alfardi Nuruzzaman
Aidan Ogborn
Oluwaniademi Ogundana
Kevin Ozkuyumcu*
Chelsea Panton
Misha Patel
Axel Perez
Khushi Prajapati
Anika Pruthi*
Annika Raj
Cesar Ramirez
Disha Rana
Ishir Rao
Alexander Relovsky
Jerrick Romero
Kaelynn Ross
Reeti Rout
Lindsey Samuel
Lithra Sankari
Alexander Savov
Hayden Schechter
Zashaan Tahaqqum Shaik
Mihika Shankar
Shubham Sharma
Ved Shenoy
Isabela Simpson*
Aaron Simpson
Praise Sodimu
Shirin Sood
Marisa Syed*
Janeli Tenecota-Villa
Jennifer Tian
Nennin Toure
Pranav Tripathi*
Vamsikrishna Vaidyula
Riyashi Varia
Shravani Vedagiri
Mia Velasco
Akhil Vemuri
Neeraj Venna
Amber Verma
Raunak Verma
Yash Verma
Madison Walia-Peters
Morgan Walia-Peters
Justen Wen
*denotes college-level Scholar