[461] Recent MTSU Grad Gouger Earns Fulbright Scholarship to Spain

For release: May 29, 2012

News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu

University Honors College contact: Laura Clippard, 615-898-5464 or Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu

Recent MTSU grad Gouger earns Fulbright scholarship to Spain

MURFREESBORO — Award-winning May 5 MTSU graduate Daniel Gouger added to his many honors just before commencement.

Gouger, who is from Jasper, Tenn., learned he had received a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program Scholarship to study in Spain. He will leave in September and study at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, focusing on molecular dynamics and molecular modeling until June 2013.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funds the Fulbright Program, one of the world’s most prestigious international educational exchange programs. Recipients are chosen on the basis of academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential.

“The whole point of the research is to analyze the effects of potential synthetic drugs on the stability and conformation of both DNA and chromatin structure,” said Gouger, who graduated magna cum laude with a 3.78 grade point average and with 195 total hours.

“I was really overwhelmed — excited, overwhelmed and humbled,” Gouger said was his reaction to learning of the Fulbright award.

Gouger becomes the second MTSU graduate to receive a Fulbright this year. Earlier, Anna Yacovone, a December 2011 graduate from Sevierville, Tenn., was notified she was awarded a Fulbright to Laos.

A May 2008 graduate of Marion County High School, Gouger earned bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and Spanish language and minors in business administration and leadership studies. Gouger graduated from the University Honors College, he was a charter member of Omicron Delta Kappa and a member of Phi Kappa Phi and served three years as president of the Honors Student Association.

Gouger said faculty members Drs. Preston MacDougall, Norma Dunlap and Nuria Novella steered him to academic success.

He said MacDougall, a chemistry professor,  “guided me from an academic standpoint and helped to develop a scholarly attitude” and opened the doors for Gouger’s opportunity in Barcelona by carrying the student’s resume to Spain and securing a professor/mentor at the institute.

Dunlap, a chemistry professor, “opened my mind to the world of medicinal chemistry and really mentored me as a scholar and a student. … She helped me grow through the thesis process and been my go-to professor for the last three years,” Gouger said.

He said Novella, a professor in foreign languages, “taught me a lot about Spanish and Spanish culture” and she “helped motivate me to go into the medical profession.” Novella’s battle with cancer (she’s now five years cancer free) further inspired him.

“I hope to one day impart upon my future patients the same care and leadership that she's been able to give me,” Gouger said.

Eight years ago when Gouger was 15, the death of his father, Thomas, also influenced his decision to study medicine.

Even with his academic prowess, Gouger found time to work as a global ambassador and student representative at MTSU for International Studies Abroad, promoting study abroad and international education on campus and also as a peer career adviser for the Career Development Center.

Gouger also worked three years as a mentor and tutor in the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center.

For hobbies, Gouger enjoys the outdoors — hiking, biking and fishing — and cooking.

Gouger is the son of Karen Gouger of Jasper. He has an older brother, Matthew. He is the grandson of Glenda and the late Charles Chester of Cartersville, Ga., near Atlanta; Katy and the late Bobby Gouger of Jasper; and Stance and Loretta Rigney of Millry, Ala.

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PHOTO captions

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May 5 graduate Daniel Gouger, shown in an MTSU science lab with the Periodic Table of the Elements in the background, is headed to Barcelona, Spain, on a Fulbright Scholarship. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

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Daniel Gouger, seated right, is shown with MTSU faculty members Drs. Norma Dunlap, left, Preston MacDougall and Nuria Novella who guided him to academic success that included a Fulbright Scholarship to Spain. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

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