Senior Andrew Burke named 2022 Churchill Scholar
University of Notre Dame senior Andrew Burke, class of ’22, has been awarded the 2022-23 Churchill Scholarship.
Burke, originally from Stewartsville, New Jersey, is a mathematics honors major with a concentration in computing. In addition, he is a Glynn Family Honors Scholar and a 2021-22 Goldwater Scholarship recipient.
“I was very excited to hear the news that I had won this scholarship. I’d like to thank my family for their support, Emily Hunt and Jeff Thibert from CUSE [the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement] for helping me out with the application, and all my teachers in the math department,” Burke said.
The Churchill Scholarship is a prestigious fellowship that provides American students funding to attend Churchill College within the University of Cambridge for one year of master’s study in disciplines of science, engineering or mathematics. This year, the Churchill Foundation received 110 applications from 73 institutions and awarded 16 scholarships.
The program was established under the vision of Winston Churchill to advance the sharing of scientific knowledge between the United States and the United Kingdom. The scholarship includes full tuition remission, a stipend and additional research grant opportunities.
At Notre Dame, Burke researches differential topology with Francis Connolly, professor emeritus of mathematics. Additionally, he is writing a senior thesis on algebraic geometry with Eric Riedl, assistant professor of mathematics. He has taken immersive coursework in mathematics, including graduate-level classes during his junior and senior year, and has presented posters at conferences at Notre Dame as well as outside institutions. He is actively involved in the mathematics department through his roles as an honors math tutor and leader of a reading group on topology.
Outside of the classroom, Burke is an offensive analyst for the Notre Dame football team and volunteers with Riverbend Math Circles.
In his year at Cambridge, Burke plans to complete Part III Master's of Advanced Study in Mathematics. This will include advanced coursework in algebraic geometry and topology, and the opportunity to study with other young researchers in the field. After his time at Cambridge, Burke plans to pursue a doctoral degree in mathematics.
There have been only two other Churchill Scholarship recipients in Notre Dame’s history since the inception of the program in 1963: MurphyKate Montee, class of ’13, and Andrew Manion, class of ’09. All three students, Burke, Montee, and Manion, were mathematics honors majors.
Originally published by at science.nd.edu on Jan. 20.
Latest Colleges & Schools
- Notre Dame researcher explores how technology can defend democracyGrowing public disenchantment with social media often highlights how it has poisoned political discourse. Critics say its business model leverages negative emotions to maximize user engagement, fueling mistrust and polarization. Keough School of Global Affairs scholar Lisa Schirch sees opportunity in a new class of deliberative technologies and their implications for democracy.
- Keough School establishes two new doctoral programsNotre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs has established two new doctoral programs in sustainable development and peace studies. The peace studies and sustainable development programs will enable doctoral students in the Keough School to examine from different perspectives the intersection of poverty, the environment, violent conflict and peace. Both programs will enroll students beginning in fall 2025.
- Essays on democracy draw attention to critical threats, explore safeguards ahead of Jan. 6Shortly after Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building, Notre Dame’s Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy established the January 6th, 2025, Project, which includes 10 Notre Dame faculty who are preeminent scholars of democracy. In an effort to understand the social, political, psychological and demographic factors that led to that troublesome day, the group created a collection of 14 essays aimed at drawing attention to the vulnerabilities in our democratic system and the threats building against it, hoping to create consensus on ways to remedy both problems.
- Graduate students to present research, compete for prize money in annual Three Minute Thesis competitionNine University of Notre Dame graduate students will compete for $4,500 in prize money during the annual Shaheen Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. The competition will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 28) inside Jordan Auditorium at the Mendoza College of Business on campus. It is open to the public.
- Does Russia stand to benefit from climate change?There exists a narrative about climate change that says there are winners and losers — with Russia being one of the countries that stand to benefit from its effects. In a new study, researchers at the University of Notre Dame found that Russia is suffering from a variety of climate change impacts and is ill-prepared to mitigate or adapt to those climate impacts. And, as the rest of the world transitions to renewable energy sources, Russia’s fossil-fuel-dependent government is not willing or ready to make alternative plans for the country, changes that could potentially benefit the whole of their society.
- ‘I’m watching you’ behavior produces racial disparities in school disciplineResearch from Calvin Zimmermann, the O’Shaughnessy Assistant Professor of Education in Notre Dame's Department of Sociology, indicates that early childhood teachers often apply discipline disproportionately in their classrooms based on a student’s race.
