Cecilia Paranjothi - 2024 Goldwater Scholarship Nominee

Cecilia Paranjothi, from Lawrence, is the daughter of Krishnan and Adrienne Paranjothi and a graduate of Free State High School. Paranjothi is majoring in chemistry. She plans to pursue a doctorate in chemistry and have a career in the field of inorganic chemistry with the goal of improving the efficiency of sustainable sources of energy.  Paranjothi is currently part of a research lab led by James Blakemore, KU associate professor of chemistry, where she studies the surface of behavior of various uranium complexes, which is motivated by the need for advances in the processing of spent nuclear fuel. Previously, under Blakemore’s guidance, she assessed influences on the quantification of Lewis acidity with phosphine oxide probes. Paranjothi’s work has been featured in a paper published by the Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, and she has presented at both regional and national American Chemical Society conferences. She is a member of the KU Chemistry Club and is a former peer tutor for the KU Academic Learning Center. Paranjothi is also the recipient of the Jack and Carolyn Landgrebe Research Scholarship, the Leland and Jill Weigel Scholarship, the WCC Eli Lilly Travel Award, a 2023 and 2024 Undergraduate Research Award, the Bricker Summer ChemScholar Research Stipend and a KU Chancellor’s Merit Scholarship.

More information about Cecilia!

• A fun fact about her is she did not enjoy chemistry during high school but got very interested in it during her freshman year.
• Her favorite KU memory is watching RuPaul’s Drag Race on her computer with all her friends in her small dorm room each week during her freshman year.
• Her favorite study spot is the second floor of Gray-Little Hall.
• This semester, she’s looking forward to the spring season because the trees on campus are beautiful during the second half of the semester.