SIUE Alum honored with National Graduate Fellowship

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alum Luke Settles BA ’15 has been awarded a National Graduate Fellowship from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (PKP). He is one of 51 recipients nationwide to receive the competitive$5,000 award that honors those entering their first year of graduate or professional study.

Local chapters across North America and the Philippines selected a candidate to compete for one of the coveted Fellowships. Settles was SIUE’s representative among more than 400 applicants across the country.

“We could not be more thrilled or more proud of Luke,” said Laura Pawlow, professor of psychology and current president of SIUE’s PKP chapter. “Standards for induction are extremely high and membership in PKP allows our students entry into a community of high-achieving scholars and professionals. He competed against the best of the best for this national recognition.”

The Springfield native earned dual bachelors in applied mathematics and Spanish from SIUE in May. As a member of the University’s PKP chapter, Settles was in the top 7.5 percent of his class. Settles says PKP offered him a platform to converse with people from other academic disciplines.

“I’m ecstatic to have received this award,” Settles said. “PKP was a great outlet for me to learn about other students’ work and interests. Additionally, I was able to give back to others in PKP by participating in a panel discussion on applying to graduate school.”

This fall, Settles will attend Missouri University of Science and Technology. He plans to pursue a master’s in applied mathematics.

“I am excited to start my graduate teaching assistant position there,” Settles said. “My end goal for the future is to be a statistician/mathematician working on biological research problems.”

Since 1995, SIUE’s PKP chapter has celebrated five national fellowship winners.

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