VCU news

By Patrick Kane and Noel van Aartrijk

Samuel Wojcicki, a new Virginia Commonwealth University graduate, has been awarded the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Junior Fellowship, becoming the first-ever recipient from the university.

Wojcicki, who graduated from VCU this month, was a member of the Honors College. He majored in chemical and life science engineering in the School of Engineering and chemistry in the College of Humanities and Sciences. He also earned a minor in mathematics. He will spend the upcoming year working with Carnegie’s energy and climate program.

The endowment selects only 10-12 fellows per year from nominations from hundreds of American colleges and universities. The fellows work as research assistants with the endowment’s senior associates.

“We are so proud of VCU’s first-ever Carnegie Junior Fellow,” said Gail Hackett, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Sam’s impact working alongside leaders in the field of climate change and energy policy will certainly ‘Make it real’ on a global scale.”

Wojcicki is a native of Powhatan County, Virginia. He plans to pursue a graduate degree in public policy or a related field upon completion of the Carnegie fellowship.

“When I came to VCU I really wanted to seek the problem-solving mindset you get from engineering,” he said. “Part of what is really apparent when you look at some of the problems we face in energy and climate is that that same mindset can very easily be applied to the policies, which then fuel the research and fuel the solutions that we need.”

Wojcicki said, “I’m hoping to get acclimated to the culture of public policy, and take that forward in my career where hopefully I can take both of these fields and use them together to accomplish meaningful change.”

Wojcicki worked with the National Scholarship Office at VCU to apply for the Carnegie fellowship. The office works with VCU alumni, graduate students and undergraduates who wish to compete for prestigious national and international scholarships. Students and alumni interested in applying for nationally or internationally competitive scholarships can contact the office at natlscholar@vcu.edu or 804-828-6868.