Prize Recipient

Bernadette Cogswell

Background:

As a child, physics captured my imagination with its diversity of forms. Like diamond facets, physical laws and phenomena join to create a jewel of a universe more beautiful in the whole than in the parts. However, all good diamonds, theories and individuals begin in the rough. After traveling to more than twenty countries on four continents and obtaining a bachelor degree in psychology and a masters degree in English, the one truth that stayed with me is that no matter how diverse the form, physics unites us all in a common universe. Now, at 29, I am returning to my passion for physics. As a senior at Florida State University, looking forward to graduate school and Ph.D. studies and pursuing a career in theoretical nuclear physics, I am continually awed by the diversity of souls that share this passion. And I am often reminded that in our jewel of a universe, physics has enough richness for us all.