The scholarships were awarded by the Board of
  Trustees of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and
  Excellence in Education Foundation to 316 undergraduate
  sophomores and juniors for the 1998-99 academic year.  The
  Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic
  merit from a field of 1,186 mathematics, science and
  engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of
  colleges and universities nationwide.
          "He's an exceptional student, both in the
  classroom and in the research laboratory," said Dr. William
  F. Polik, associate professor of chemistry, with whom
  Paulisse has conducted research since 1996.  "The qualities
  of Kevin that impress me the most are his independence; his
  hard-driving work ethic; his depth of analysis--to
  understand a question from a fundamental viewpoint; and his
  prolific rate of accomplishment."
          "Kevin took Organic Chemistry as a freshman--very
  few freshmen do that, most take General Chemistry--and was
  the top student in his class," he said.  "And he has been
  the top student in every chemistry class that he's taken
  here."
          Paulisse is a chemistry and mathematics dual
  major.  He received the college's Organic Chemistry Book
  Award in the spring of 1996 for his performance in Organic
  Chemistry.  He has received one of only 23 Pfizer
  Fellowships awarded nationwide in chemistry by Pfizer Inc.
  of Groton, Conn., an award that will support him as he
  conducts research at Hope full-time with Polik this summer.
          He and Polik have also written "Discus," a
  computer program for hosting discussion on the World Wide
  Web.  Originally developed for use at Hope, the application
  has been adopted by more than 550 other institutions.
          Paulisse has worked in the department of chemistry
  as a teaching assistant and homework grader, and also works
  for the college's office of Computing and Information
  Technology.  His activities include intramural sports and
  playing tuba in Hope's pep band.
          He is the son of Marilyn Paulisse of Grandville
  and the late Wayne Paulisse, and is a 1995 graduate of Grand
  Rapids Christian High School.
          The Goldwater Scholarships provide up to $7,500
  per year to help cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and
  room and board.
          Paulisse is one of 11 students native to Michigan-
  -some are attending out-of-state schools--to receive one of
  the scholarships.  In addition to Hope, the Michigan
  institutions to have students honored are Eastern Michigan
  University, Michigan State University and the University of
  Michigan at Ann Arbor.
          Of the students selected, 183 of the scholars are
  men, 133 are women and virtually all intend to obtain a
  Ph.D. as their degree objective.  A total of 19 are
  mathematics majors, 215 are science majors, 20 are majoring
  in engineering, and 62 have dual majors in a variety of
  mathematics, science, engineering and computer disciplines.
          The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed
  agency established by Public Law 99-661 on Nov. 14, 1986.
  The Scholarship Program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater
  was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to
  pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural
  sciences and engineering.
          The foundation, now in its 10th year, has to date
  awarded 2,407 scholarships worth approximately $25 million.
  The trustees plan to award about 300 scholarships for the
  1999-2000 academic year.

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