Alumnus Receives Prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Eric Koskinen ('01) was recently named a 2007 Gates Cambridge
Scholar. Eric, currently a graduate student at Brown University, is one
of two William and Mary graduates to have ever received the honor.
"I'm delighted to hear the news about Eric. I can't imagine a more deserving individual," said Phil Kearns, chair of William and Mary's computer science department and Koskinen's honors thesis advisor. "He always impressed me as being an intense computer scientist, but one who was well-rounded. This is significant because the intensity and the well-roundedness are often mutually exclusive. He was one of those students who make taking a salary for being a faculty member at W&M seem like larceny."
Established in 2001, the Gates Cambridge Scholar program enables outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at Cambridge. According to the Web site, the scholars are chosen based on their intellectual ability, leadership capacity and desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by providing service to their communities and applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others.
A native of Allendale, N.J., Koskinen graduated from William and Mary with a double major in computer science and physics. He said he has nothing but fond memories of William and Mary, where he played in a small pop/rock band and met many of his closest friends, including his wife.
