Noemie Koller Scholarship

Rutgers University Department of Physics and Astronomy

The Noemie B. Koller Scholarship is awarded annually to two Rutgers women physics majors who, in the judgment of the physics faculty, have demonstrated outstanding academic excellence. The scholarship was established by an anonymous donor in honor of Noemie B. Koller, who is a professor of physics at Rutgers. The scholarship winners are announced at the Departmental Awards Banquet in April, sponsored by the Rutgers Society of Physics Students .

A photograph of Prof. Koller is shown above.

Noemie B. Koller (1933-)

Biographical sketch contributed by Paul Leath

Noemie Benczer Koller was born in Vienna, Austria on August 21, 1933. She received her B.A. Degree from Barnard College in 1953, and her M.S. (1955) and Ph.D.(1958) Degree in experimental physics from Columbia University, New York, NY, where she continued as a postdoctoral research associate until 1960.

She joined the Rutgers Physics Department in the fall of 1960 as assistant professor, and was the first female assistant professor appointed to the faculty of Rutgers College, which then had an all-male student body. She received tenure in 1965, and thus also became the first woman ever to be promoted to tenure in the faculty of Rutgers College. At Rutgers she was a major member of the nuclear physics research group working on the tandem Van de Graaff accelerator, as well as an important condensed-matter physicist, performing experiments using the Mossbauer effect. She was later the Director of the Nuclear Physics Laboratory (1986-89).

She also served in the administration of the University as the Associate Dean for Sciences of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (1992-96), and was active in the American Physical Society (APS), serving on many national committees, and as Chair of the 2,500-member APS Nuclear Physics Division (1993-94). She is a fine teacher and mentor of students. She also is a strong supporter of and an outstanding role model for women in science. Rutgers Department of Physics & Astronomy has had, for many years, as many women on its faculty as any other physics department in the country, which is in no small part due to Noemie Koller's presence and leadership.

Winners of the Noemie B. Koller Scholarship

Photographs from Awards Banquet

Click on most pictures to see a larger image.

			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Violeta Dimitrova (left) and Kristin Lamm (right) at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 12, 2001.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Violeta Dimitrova (left) and Rebecca Batorsky (right) at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 16, 2002.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Aiyan Lu (left) and Noelle Stanley (right) at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 22, 2003.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Elizabeth Tozour (left) and Jennifer Sirak (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 20, 2004.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Kinga Partyka (left) and Elizabeth Tozour (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 26, 2005.
			Scholarship winners Kinga Partyka (left) and Christine Hsieh (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 18, 2006.
			Scholarship winners Irina Vergalasova (left) and Jennifer Van Saders (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 24, 2007.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Jennifer Van_Saders (left) and Brenna Krieger (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 29, 2008.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Sabrina Strauss (left) and Kiersten Ruisard (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 21, 2009.
			Scholarship winners Kiersten Ruisard (left) and Samia Bouzid (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 27, 2010.
			Scholarship winners Helen Janiszewski (left) and Christina Krawiec (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 26, 2011.
			Prof. Noemie Koller (middle) and scholarship winners Katherine Sytwu (left) and Margaret Zientek (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 17, 2012.
			Scholarship winners Rebecca Cebulka (left), Alexandra DeMaio (middle), and Katherine Sytwu (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 23, 2013.
			Scholarship winners Jaclyn Bradli (left), Corrine Deegan (middle), and Alice Huang (right). The award was presented at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 22, 2014.
			Scholarship winners Jennifer Coulter (left), Alice Huang (middle), and Xiaoyu Zhang (right) at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 21, 2015.
			Scholarship winners Wan Lin (left), Nitika Yadlapalli (middle), and Jiaoyue Yuan (right) at the Departmental Awards Banquet on April 19, 2016.
			Scholarship winners Maine Christos (left), Anna Tsatsos (middle), and Charlotte Zuber (right) April 25, 2017.
			2018 Scholarship winners Elizabeth Dreifus (left), Jennifer Mead (middle), and Esha Rao (right)