2 Pomona Juniors Win Top Science Scholarship in U.S.

Two Pomona College juniors have won one of the most prestigious awards a science student can receive in America.

Charles Brainin and Ryan Mooney were among just 454 students nationwide selected for the 2026-27 Goldwater Scholarship. More than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors applied, making this one of the most competitive honors in science, engineering, and mathematics.

The scholarship offers more than money. Winners receive up to $7,500, mentorship opportunities, and a credential that opens doors to elite graduate programs and future awards like the Churchill and Marshall Scholarships.

What makes their win special is how they started. Both began their research in Professor Malkiat Johal's chemistry lab, and the three recently co-authored a paper accepted by Analytical Chemistry, a leading scientific journal.

Brainin came to Pomona from Massachusetts drawn to physics and chemistry. His research focuses on precision spectroscopy, work that sits right between both fields.

After starting in Johal's lab, he moved to Professor Richard Mawhorter's physics lab, where he studies molecular systems. This summer, he heads to Emory University on a National Science Foundation grant to deepen his expertise in molecular physics.

"Both labs have given me the opportunity and the passion to think for myself and do things myself out of my interest," Brainin says. His dream is to become a university professor who both researches and inspires students to love science.

Mooney's path into research started with heartbreak. His mom was diagnosed with triple-negative metastatic breast cancer when he was a junior in high school.

As the youngest child still living at home in Denver, he watched her endure chemotherapy's brutal side effects. The experience fueled his determination to develop better cancer treatments that target diseased cells without destroying healthy ones.

Now his mom is in remission, and Mooney is conducting adoptive T-cell transfer research in Johal's lab. His goal is to change how cancer gets treated entirely.

"Ryan's trajectory has been exceptional from the start," Johal says. "He joined my lab as a freshman and quickly set himself apart through a rare combination of drive, focus and scientific instinct."

Mooney plans to earn a Ph.D. in immunology, molecular biology, or cancer biology and become a professor. He still can't believe he's won an award previously earned by so many accomplished scientists.

Why This Inspires

These young researchers represent something powerful: personal passion meeting rigorous training. Brainin discovered his path through exploration and mentorship. Mooney turned family trauma into purpose.

Their professors didn't just teach them facts. They gave them agency, encouraged independence, and treated them like real scientists from day one.

Pomona has now produced multiple Goldwater winners in recent years, showing what happens when talented students meet educators who believe in them. Both young men will spend their careers not just advancing science but teaching the next generation to ask bold questions.

Two students, one shared beginning, endless potential ahead.