An aspiring physician-scientist who co-authored a paper on human metabolism.
A brilliant physics and math major who applies her quantitative background to research on sustainability and geology.
Neha Maskey ’26 and Emilia Pelagano-Titmuss MHC ’26 are the latest Hunter students to be chosen as Barry M. Goldwater Scholars.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation awards the scholarships to students who have the potential to make significant research contributions in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Each Goldwater Scholarship provides as much as $7,500 each year for as many as two years of undergraduate study.
Maskey and Pelagano-Titmuss are among 441 students nationally who won awards out of 1,350 outstanding undergraduates nominated by 445 institutions. They are the ninth and 10th Hunter students to win the Goldwater Scholarship in the last five years.
The awards reflect Hunter’s commitment to serving as an anchor institution for high-impact scientific research and a training ground for diverse young talent. With the incredible life experiences Hunter students bring to the classroom, the college has served as an engine of social mobility for more than 150 years, with a faculty that is fiercely proud and protective of our students and invested deeply in their success.
Maskey works in the Jeffrey Friedman lab at The Rockefeller University, which studies the molecular mechanisms of the hormone leptin in regulating food intake and body weight. Her contributions to the lab earned her co-authorship on a paper observing leptin’s role in maintaining autonomic stability after viral infection published by the Journal of Clinical Investigation which, Friedman said, “is extremely unusual for an undergraduate student working in my laboratory.”
Earlier, she was at the Cho Laboratory at Mount Sinai, studying immune lymphoid cell differentiation and gut inflammation in zebrafish models. A biological sciences major, Maskey hopes to apply her research interests in immunology and neuroscience to medicine.
Pelegano-Titmuss, a Macaulay Honors College student and John P. McNulty Scholar, spent last summer at Caltech, studying volcanic activity under the direction of geologist Edward Stolper. She also works in the Steven Greenbaum lab in Hunter’s physics department, studying green alternatives for lithium-ion battery electrolytes. In September, in a rare move for an undergraduate, she presented a paper on her work at an international conference at the University of Palermo, Italy.
“Emilia is one of the best students I have had in 40 years at Hunter,” Greenbaum said. “She will have her pick of top PhD programs.”
Hunter’s Office of Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships has a stellar record of accomplishment in preparing students for competitive scholarships and fellowships. In recent years, the college has produced two Rhodes, three Marshall, seven Schwarzman, five Luce, 10 Goldwater, and 39 Fulbright Scholars among many other prestigious awardees.
