University of Texas at Austin

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Inaugural Babuška Scholarship Recipient Announced

By Rebecca Riley

Published May 31, 2022

Bronson Zhou receiving his award from Karen Willcox in May.

Bronson Zhou, a fourth year Mathematics and Statistics student at the College of Natural Sciences, has been awarded the 2022 Ivo & Renata Babuška Scholarship, funded as part of the Ivo & Renata Babuška Endowed Excellence Fund.

This $1,000 award was established to recognize and support the studies of exceptional senior-level undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Austin who are undertaking research at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences

The scholarship is funded by the Ivo & Renata Babuška Endowed Excellence Fund, in keeping with Dr. and Mrs. Babuška’s lifelong interest in encouraging the next generation of scientists and engineers. 

“My dream is to be a professor,” said Zhou. “I’ve enjoyed learning math for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is from kindergarten, when I asked my parents about the existence of negative numbers and how they interacted with positive numbers.”

For the past year, Zhou has been conducting research under the guidance of Dr. Joe Kileel, Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department, and Core Faculty Member of the Oden Institute. 

“In addition to guiding my research, Dr. Kileel has been immensely helpful towards my studies by alerting me to academic opportunities like this scholarship, being my reference for various applications, and answering whatever questions I have about graduate school and academic life. I’m extremely grateful for all the help he’s provided over the past year.”

My dream is to be a professor. I've enjoyed learning math for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is from kindergarten, when I asked my parents about the existence of negative numbers and how they interacted with positive numbers.

— Bronson Zhou

Zhou is most drawn towards probability, algebra and the use of applied mathematics in neuroscience research. Deeply interested in studying human behavior and designing computational models of human systems, he entered UT Austin as a neuroscience major. However, exposure to the structural side of this field through courses on linear algebra and probability opened his eyes to the sheer depth of mathematics as its own area of study. 

“After coming to this realization at the end of my freshman year, I made the decision to study math full-time and I haven’t looked back since,” said Zhou.

“I would love to join an institution as prolific as the Oden Institute during my career and to research and teach future generations of students about these wonderful topics. I’m very thankful for the opportunities this scholarship grants me, all made possible by the generosity of the Oden Institute and the Babuška family.” 

Bronson Zhou’s achievements were recognized at the Oden Institute Awards ceremony on May 5th, where he was presented with an award certificate for the scholarship.