FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 05/01/2008

Coakley Receives Ulrich Physics Scholarship at Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER, Va.— Jessica Coakley was awarded the Dale V. Ulrich Physics Scholarship, which honors a former professor of physics and former dean and provost of Bridgewater College.

The scholarship, based on academic merit, is given annually to an outstanding junior in the physics department. The $725 scholarship was presented to Coakley at the annual Awards Convocation on April 29.

Coakley, a 2005 graduate of Stonewall Jackson High School, is the daughter of John and Terri Coakley of Quicksburg, Va. A junior physics major with minors in mathematics and computer science, she is a member of the Philomathes Society, Bridgewater's scholastic honor society, and Alpha Chi, a national scholastic honor society.

She has served as a tutor and a chemistry lab assistant and this summer will participate in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Virginia. The REU program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Ulrich came to Bridgewater in 1958 and retired at the end of the 1989-99 academic year. He served 38 years on the Bridgewater faculty 15 years as dean of the college, nine years as provost and 14 years as professor of physics. He and his wife, Claire, live in Bridgewater, Va.

Bridgewater College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, enrolls more than 1,500 students. Founded in 1880 and located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was the state's first private, coeducational senior college.

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