In January of 1967, Santos Go became the first doctoral student to enroll in the PSE program when, to focus more fully on polymers, he transferred from the Chemistry Department at the Univ. of Oregon. Santos had earlier received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology in the Philippines (he actually was a citizen of Taiwan, noted on his UMass application as "Free China").
Santos immediately established a precedent that many later PSE doctoral students would strive to match, the passing of the cumulative exams consecutively. His thesis project was conducted under the supervision of Prof. R. W. Lenz, with Profs. Frank Karasz and Fraser Price filling out the thesis committee. In 1972, Santos' thesis, entitled "Crystallization-Induced Reaction of Copolyesters", was accepted, and he was awarded one of the first PSE Ph.D. degrees. Santos subsequently assumed a position with Plastics Technology Department of Owens-Illinois (Toledo, Ohio), and within ten years his prodigious efforts had led to the award of more than 20 U.S. patents to his employer.
Tragically, in March of 1983, Santos died of leukemia. An endowment fund was quickly established through concerted efforts of the PSE department, the Owens-Illinois Company, the Go family, and former PSE classmates. The fund initiated the "Santos Go Memorial Merit Scholarship", to be awarded each year to the most outstanding second year PSE student as judged by scholarly accomplishments accrued during the previous academic year. Factors weighed in selecting the scholarship's recipient include grades and research initiative.
Many in the PSE department retain poignant memories of Santos, as his graduate career incorporated so many pioneering steps. In 1971, Santos faced deportation as his student visa expired just months before he would complete his thesis. The late Congressman Silvio O. Conte, who would subsequently do so much for the PSE department, personally interceded with the U.S Immigration Service, and a special visa extension was issued.
We all remember Santos Go as a man of great integrity and commitment in his research, his studies, and in his life. It is fitting that, even in death, he inspired a fund to reward these same qualities in others.
Recipients of the Santos Go Memorial Scholarship
-
2024 - Daniel Seyedebrahimi
2023 - Karan Sagar
2022 - Yeseul Lee
2021 - Ching Hsien (Justin) Ho
2020 - Takumi Uchiyama
2019 - Hantao Zhou
2018 - Zachary Fink
2017 - Chinmay Saraf
2016 - Sarah Ward
2015 - Qi Lu
2014 - Brendan Ondra
2013 - Ying Zhou
2012 - Sedef Piril Ertem
2011 - Kyle Bryson
2010 - Sahas Rathi
2009 - Samantha (McRae) Page
2008 - Hitash Thaker
2007 - Shilpi Sanghi and Xinyu Wei
2006 - Wei Chen
2006 - Elizabeth Cooper
2005 - John Harner
2004 - Edwin Chan and Elizabeth Glogowski
2003 - Qingling Zhang
2002 - Xiaochuan Hu and Gregoire Cardoen
2001 - Ying Lin
2000 - Christopher Stanley and Dmytro Nykypanchuk
1999 - Kathryn Wright
1998 - Arun Raman
1997 - Kristi Kiick and Christopher Stafford
1996 - Heather Hayes and Gustavo Carri
1995 - Edward Kung
1994 - Wei Chen
1993 - James Watkins and Chester Liu
1992 - James Fishburn
1991 - Mark Timmins and Hun-Jan Tao (D)
1990 - Wanda Walczak
1989 - Christian Lietzau
1988 - Timothy Bee and Michael Graff
1987 - Howard Schild
1986 - David Martin
1985 - Joseph Machado
1984 - Charles Bauer
1983 - Peter Kim