Prize Recipient

Ryan O'Donnell
Howard University

Background:

My name is Ryan O’Donnell.  I was born and have lived just outside of Chicago with both of my parents for the first eighteen years of my life.  Although I have faced many difficulties in my life, many of which I am still facing, I have always had a drive that has set me apart from others.  I have always been a great dreamer.  Despite all the dreams that I have had extinguished, my ambition has never subsided.

As long as I can remember, I have been filled with questions, questions that people typically did not know the answers to.  To this day, with the many things that I have learned, I still find myself overwhelmed with questions.  Physics is so important to me because it is this world, not just the Earth but the entire universe and more.  Everything that a person does in this world must have something to do with physics.  It is a house of innumerable dark rooms in which I feel around for the occasional light switch of knowledge.

I currently attend Howard University, a university with a rightfully bestowed legend in educating minorities, a university that, although is significantly underfunded, is willing to give me all that it has to offer to foster my success, a university that encourages my ambition.  I will be returning to Howard University in the fall of 2011 grateful that I am an APS Minority Scholarship Recipient!

Detailed Profile of Ryan O'Donnel