Zoë Batterman ’24, a mathematics major, has been awarded the prestigious Churchill Scholarship. The scholarship—awarded to 16 accomplished scientists, mathematicians and engineers in the U.S. annually—funds one year of study at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.
The program, established at the request of former U.K. prime minister Winston Churchill, fulfills his vision of deepening the U.S./U.K. partnership to advance science and technology on both sides of the Atlantic.
Starting in October, Batterman will conduct full-time pure mathematics research with Professor Dhruv Ranganathan. “My advisor will give me a research problem,” she says, “and then I’ll have to read and acquire the necessary background to be able to answer it.”
For her research problem, she will work with Chow homology groups, which will enable her “to engage in the research discourse which lies at the intersection of algebraic geometry and number theory,” she says.
She looks forward to having conversations with the other Churchill Scholars as well as joining the social life at Cambridge, including competing in the pentathlon, which she says combines “pretty much all the sports I love.”
Batterman, who hails from New Orleans, was also previously awarded the Alice T. Schafer Prize for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman and the Goldwater Scholarship, both in 2023.
“Zoë is having a remarkable run these past two years,” says Edray Goins, professor of mathematics and statistics.
Her research experience includes two NSF-funded REUs (research experiences for undergraduates): one at Pomona with Goins in summer 2022 and one at Williams College in summer 2023.
Konrad Aguilar, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, says he isn’t surprised that Batterman received the Churchill prize. “Zoë has excelled in our most advanced courses here. Furthermore, we completed research together at the graduate level and higher,” he says. “I am grateful that I got a chance to work with Zoë while she has been at Pomona.”