Ellie Seehorn ’25 Receives Goldwater Scholarship
Grinnell College student Margaret (Ellie) Seehorn ’25, was awarded a prestigious scholarship given by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
“Winning the Goldwater is incredibly affirming of the future I envision for myself as a scientist and researcher,” said Seehorn, a computer science and sociology double major and statistics concentrator from Franklin, Tennessee. “I look forward to the path this sets me on, one that leads me towards graduate school in computer science and a chance to make my passion for accessibility research my life’s work.”
“Accessibility has been historically under-researched, despite being relevant for upwards of a billion people worldwide,” continued Seehorn. She plans to pursue a PhD in computer science, specifically human-computer interaction with an emphasis on accessibility.
The Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prominent national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics in the United States, seeks to identify and support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise to become this nation’s next generation of research leaders in their fields. This year, 508 new scholars were selected from a total of 1,353 nominees from colleges and universities around the country.
“I hope in my research career I can work towards lessening this [accessibility] disparity and encourage future researchers to pursue this area as well,” said Seehorn. Her summer research experiences demonstrate the progression of her knowledge and the commitment to her goals.
In summer 2024, Seehorn will be conducting research with the Human-AI Lab (HAIL) at the University of Michigan. The project uses end-user programming to develop an interface for blind/low vision (BLV) individuals to create DIY assistive technologies. At Carnegie Mellon in summer 2023, Seehorn focused on the research question “how might we integrate customizable Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals into the design and use of adaptive learning tools (ALT) in the classroom,” with her HCII REU CATS Lab and Social AI Group.
Conducting semi-structured interviews that use a combination of directed storytelling and design scenarios with special education teachers led to insight into how existing software’s interact with IEP’s, potential challenges in IEP integration, and teacher relationships to AI-Tools. This work guided a set of recommendations to inform future work and implementation of ALT’s for special education and a design structure for an IEP-integrative ALTs. The team is running a workshop at the International Society of Learning Sciences Annual Meeting in June 2024, completing interviews and publishing design guidelines for a paper at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in 2025, and then hoping to implement the design structure for an IEP-integrative ALT.
In the Make4All lab in the computer science department at the University of Washington, she worked on a project centered around novel tactile graphics using machine embroidery. This summer 2022 REU team was tasked to achieve appropriate textural contrast to graphics conveying complex information for BLV individuals. Seehorn presented her work at the 2022 ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication and the team is working towards a publication. She also won the University of Washington’s CREATE accessible textiles Hackfest with a tactile children’s book that reads itself aloud via conductive thread embroidery.
“Ellie’s academic and research achievements indicate her exceptional potential in achieving her PhD and research goals,” said Ann Landstrom, assistant dean and director of global fellowships and awards at Grinnell College. “The campus nomination committee recognized her intellectual contributions and leadership to research, the classroom, and the Grinnell community.
Seehorn, a dean’s list recipient and National Merit Scholar, is a peer educator in the computer science department, founding member of the Grinnell Chapter of Girls Who Code, president of the Women and Gender Minorities in Computing organization, elected member of the Computer Science Student Educational Policy Committee, and program coordinator for Computing Peers United organization.
In addition, Seehorn has worked for the Disability Resources Office since first year. She said, “Being so closely involved with disability work and activism on campus has deeply informed the foundations of my [accessibility] research.”
She offers humility in discussing the challenges of research. “I have found that even when it’s imperfect and there is a lot of development to be done, accessibility research has the potential to make people feel seen,” said Seehorn. “The world we live in is built on structures of ableism and inaccessibility, yet I’ve found computer science offers pathways to not just challenge these institutional barriers but do so in a way that recognizes the needs of people as individuals. This is a huge piece that draws me to research.”
Ellie’s academic advisor and mentor at Grinnell College is Nicole Eikmeier, assistant professor of computer science; with also Vincent Aleven, professor of human computer interaction institute, Naomie Williams, PhD student in human computer interaction, both at Carnegie Mellon University, and Jennifer Mankoff, Richard E. Ladner professor of computer science at the University of Washington, providing exceptional mentorship and support along her journey.
Congress established the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986 as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate. The foundation has been able to support a larger number of scholarships in the past few years because of collaboration with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Program and additional support from Congress. Since the inception of the program, 10,720 undergraduates have now been named Goldwater Scholars.
The Goldwater Scholarship provides financial assistance with undergraduate tuition and connects students with a network of fellow students, early career scientists, and experienced scholars. The Goldwater Foundation maintains an active community forum for discussions about STEM careers and graduate school opportunities.