Students at The University of Southern Mississippi Honors College are achieving great things in the classroom and beyond. The Honors College recruits top students from around the country, including National Merit finalists. This year, the Honors College welcomed a record 47 Presidential Scholars with an average ACT score of 32. Honors College students are constantly challenged through active learning experiences, thought-provoking classroom discussions and research in a unique and stimulating environment. Being devoted to the development of these excellent students means retaining and graduating some of the best and brightest in the country, which is certainly proven by the number of Southern Miss students who win prestigious national scholarships.

Name: Justin Poelma

Hometown: Ocean Springs, Miss.

Major:  junior, polymer science

A 2008 Goldwater Scholar, Justin Poelma is the 17th Southern Miss student and the only student in Mississippi this year to receive the prestigious national scholarship. Awarded to outstanding sophomores and juniors in science and mathematics, the one- and two-year scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. 

“It’s a real honor because it affirms that people view you as having potential as a scientist who can contribute to the field,” said Poelma, who plans on pursuing a career as a university faculty researcher. 

Since his freshman year, Poelma has worked in the laboratory of Southern Miss polymer science professor Dr. Robson Storey, where his research on model compounds has been published. “Justin is creative, excited about what he’s doing and is truly worthy of the Goldwater Scholarship,” Storey said.

Poelma has hands-on experience in the lab’s cutting-edge research, which is biomedical in nature and has potential applications for advancements in the field, such as controlled drug release in the human body. “It’s definitely mission-oriented research that we’re engaged in,” Storey said

Honors College Dean David R. Davies said, “With Justin's win, Southern Miss now has had 17 Goldwater Scholars in the 22 years the award has existed, a record that speaks volumes about our students and our science program.”

A presidential scholar in the Honors College, Poelma says his Honors College experience gave him an edge in the scholarship competition.

“The senior honors component (thesis) that the college requires is very important,” Poelma said. “It teaches you to value individual research and it helped me in writing the essay required for the Goldwater.”