Nick Mazzoni, a Commonwealth Honors College junior, has been named a recipient of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship Award.

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Presented by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, the scholarship is presented annually to a select group of talented college sophomores and juniors who aspire to become this nation’s next generation of researchers in science, engineering, and mathematics. The nationally competitive award supports students who have a passion for research, strong potential in their fields of study, and plans to pursue graduate study.

Mazzoni was one of the 454 scholarships awarded for the 2026-27 academic year. This scholar class, combined with continued support for 59 sophomores from the 2026 competition, marks the highest total number of scholars the foundation has supported in a single year, according to the Goldwater Scholarship announcement made earlier this spring. 

Mazzoni, who is a physics and mathematics double major from Belmont, Massachusetts, plans to apply for doctoral programs in theoretical physics and aspires to teach at the university level.

Mazzoni has also been co-president of the Society of Physics Students and an active member of the Fencing Club for the past two years.

“I’m honored to be chosen as a Goldwater Scholar, and I’m very grateful for the classes and research opportunities in the physics and math departments that made my application competitive,” Mazzoni said.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate. Since its founding in 1986, the foundation has awarded scholarships to more than 11,000 college sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Mazzoni’s nomination was supported by UMass Amherst’s Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA), directed by Madalina Akli. ONSA provides advising services to all UMass Amherst undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni. Each year, it nominates sophomores and juniors for the Goldwater Scholarship and encourages interested students planning to pursue graduate study in STEM to contact the office for advising.