Tyler Drombosky of Boardman, a junior math major at Youngstown State University, has won the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that a YSU student has received Goldwater Scholar recognition. YSU’s four awards are the most by any public university in northeast Ohio during that period.

“Our success as an institution in the Goldwater competition is a tribute to the students at YSU and to the faculty who mentor and guide them along their chosen academic path,” said Ron Shaklee, director of YSU’s University Scholars and Honors Program.

“Tyler is an exceptional young man,” he added. “He takes on challenges and uses his combination of drive and intellect to meet those challenges.”

The scholarship program honoring U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Goldwater Scholars are nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide and are selected on the basis of academic merit. The award is $7,500 a year.

“The faculty at YSU is truly incredible,” said Drombosky, a 2005 graduate of Boardman High School. “They are always there to help me and motivate me to be the best possible student. Without them, I know that none of what I have accomplished would have been possible.”

Drombosky, son of Ken and Cheryl Drombosky, is president of Pi Mu Epsilon, a math honors society. Last summer, he participated in a math research program in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Colorado School of Mines. This summer, Drombosky has a position in the National Security Agency’s Directors Summer Program, and he hopes to take part in a study abroad program called “Budapest Semester in Mathematics” in Hungary in spring 2009. He plans to graduate from YSU next spring and then attend graduate school.

Shaklee said YSU’s recent string of successes with the Goldwater Scholarship, as well as successes with the Graduate Fellowship Awards through Phi Kappa Phi, is a reflection on the quality and commitment of students and faculty.

“We have definitely been very successful in recruiting and retaining high ability, high performing students at YSU,” he said. “These students have both the necessary drive and intellect to make them competitive with students from institutions across the United States.”