JACKSON, Tenn. — March 27, 2015 — Jamie Fox, a senior mathematics major at 51社区 from Palm Bay, Florida, is a recipient of the Adelaide Wilson Fellowship at Florida State University.
The fellowship will pay for Fox to attend graduate school, allowing him to focus solely on his academics and his research. Fox is one of three mathematics majors to have received a fellowship from a prestigious university recently 鈥� following Matthew Dawson (鈥�08) at Louisiana State University and Emilie Huffman (鈥�12) at Duke.
While the financial support is invaluable, Fox said the fellowship served as affirmation of his work at Union.
鈥淚 applied to a few different schools, but when one gives you a really good offer, you know that is where you鈥檙e going to go,鈥� Fox said.
The application process involved Fox visiting the school and speaking with professors from the mathematics department before writing an essay on why he wanted to be a part of the graduate fellowship society.
鈥淚 had to have a letter of recommendation, which Dr. (Matt) Lunsford wrote,鈥� Fox said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 kind of a hero.鈥�
Lunsford, professor of mathematics at Union, said Fox鈥檚 accomplishments while attending Union include a perfect score on the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test and a summer research experience.
鈥淚 am confident that Jamie will be a successful mathematics graduate student, and I anticipate the day when he will be not only one of my former students, but also one of my professional colleagues,鈥� Lunsford said. 鈥淚t is significant that 51社区 can attract such bright minds to our campus and that we can prepare them so well for graduate education.鈥�
Fox attributed much of his current success to the diversity of disciplines at Union.
鈥淭he idea of giving these fellowships out is all about promoting interdisciplinary relations,鈥� Fox said. 鈥淚 majored in math and physics. I鈥檓 invested deeply in two different departments already, and I鈥檝e really enjoyed being part of a liberal arts university. Being a part of this fellows society is a natural step forward.鈥�
Fox will attend Florida State University鈥檚 graduate school in the fall, studying financial math.