UH Hilo student awarded prestigious fellowships

A University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo senior majoring in mathematics and computer science has been awarded a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF).

Marissa Loving was among 70 math students chosen from more than 13,000 applicants for the prestigious award, which is open to U.S. citizens who are graduating college seniors as well as first- and second-year Ph.D. students. The fellowship includes a three-year annual stipend of $30,000, a $12,000 a year cost of education allowance to the graduate institution of the recipient’s choice, plus various opportunities for international research and professional growth.

Loving will use her award to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall where she gained first-round acceptance to the math Ph.D. program and was awarded the Graduate College Distinguished Fellowship. That award includes a full tuition and fee waiver along with a $25,000 stipend for three years. The two fellowships, combined with other awards, bring the total assistance Loving will receive for her doctoral studies to over a half-million dollars.

The NSF GRF recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines pursuing research-based masters and doctoral degrees.

A UH Presidential Scholar, Loving’s research credentials include co-authorship of a paper entitled “Non-Stable K-theory for Leavitt Path Algebras,” which was accepted for publication last fall and will appear in the peer-reviewed Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics.

“The fellowships will allow me to focus on research, rather than on teaching, working or other commitments during my graduate studies,” Loving said. “It is with excitement that I look forward to what mathematics holds for me in the future.”