The University of Iowa Names the First ACT Scholars

The University of Iowa has named Krystle Oates and Hector Jose Machin as the first two ACT Scholars at the University. Officials selected these students from a group nominated for the program by the deans of several colleges within the University.

“We are excited to announce the first scholars for this prestigious program designed to provide graduate students with the opportunity to pursue graduate degrees and research at the University while simultaneously obtaining training at ACT,” said John C. Keller, associate provost and Graduate College dean. “These two individuals well represent the overall intent of the program.”

Krystle Oates

Earlier this year, ACT established the ACT Scholars Program at the University with a $5 million endowment that will enable students selected for the program to pursue fully funded graduate degrees. Those who make satisfactory progress will be eligible for renewal of their grants. University officials expect to name another two to four scholars during the second year of the program. Eventually, they expect approximately eight students to participate in the program at any given time.

Oates is already studying in the University’s Educational Measurement & Statistics doctoral program and completed a master’s degree this past summer. She has worked as a graduate assistant in the Iowa Testing Programs.

She earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and taught mathematics at a Los Angeles charter school prior to beginning her studies at the University. Oates has also done community outreach work with Boys & Girls Clubs and various programs to promote interest in math and science careers, and is interested in researching the role that gender and race/ethnicity differences can have on achievement test performance.

Hector Jose Machin

Machin will start at the University in the second semester of the 2010–11 academic year. He will study computer and electrical engineering. He earned his bachelor of science in computer engineering from Universidad del Turabo in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. He completed research internships in multi-processor cluster and hybrid parallel programming at Texas A&M University and in high performance computer engineering with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Machin and his faculty advisor are planning a doctoral program that concentrates on diverse data residing in large-scale databases, fault tolerant computing, robust data-controlled computational decision-making, and computing security.

The ACT Scholars Program serves the diversity goals of ACT and the University. The scholars have ACT mentors, who help them gain experience in projects related to their fields of study. Mentors work closely with the students’ faculty advisors and engage other ACT staff to support their work at the University.

Scholars spend an average of 10 to 20 hours per week throughout the academic year in both individual and group learning activities at ACT.

Some scholars may be able to use ACT data sets, or specialized resources in the ACT Information Resource Center, for their research. They may also be considered for summer internships or other summer employment at ACT.

The University is currently recruiting graduate students for fall 2011. Visit www.grad.uiowa.edu/aid-youre-nominated-for/ACT-scholars-program-fellowships for more information about the ACT Scholars Program.