June 16, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Recent University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) graduate Sonja Brooks, 21, of Madison, has received a 2009 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Award. She is the daughter of Eugenia and Vollon Brooks of Madison.

 NSF Fellowships are given to individuals who demonstrate outstanding scholarship. Winners receive a $30,000 stipend.

Brooks graduated in May from UAB with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She was a student in the University Honors Program and was president of the UAB Student Affiliate of the American Chemical Society. In 2007, she was named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. She also was selected as the UAB Outstanding Woman Undergraduate Student for 2009.

Brooks plans to attend graduate school at Vanderbilt University.

 About UAB

The UAB University Honors Program provides gifted and highly motivated students with an intimate, innovative and challenging interdisciplinary course of study.