2024 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Before paying tribute to the students whom the Enrico Fermi Educational Fund in Yonkers, New York, has awarded its 2024 scholarships, recollecting the legacy of the fund’s namesake is warranted. Enrico Fermi was born on Sept. 29, 1901, in Rome, Italy. At age 14, he become interested in the study of physics as a way of coping with his grief over losing his brother Giulio during minor surgery. In 1922, he graduated with a doctorate from the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, a special university-college for selected gifted students. In 1923, Fermi was awarded a scholarship from the Italian government and spent several months with Professor Max Born in Gottingen, Germany. Later that year he returned to Italy to occupy the post of lecturer in mathematical physics and mechanics at the University of Florence, a position he held for two years. In 1926, Fermi discovered the statistical laws, nowadays known as the “Fermi statistics,” governing the particles subject to Pauli’s exclusion principles (now referred to as fermions, in contrast with bosons, which obey the Bose-Einstein statistics). The next year, Fermi was elected professor of theoretical physics at the University of Rome, a post that he retained until 1938 when he emigrated to America, primarily to escape Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship. Fermi was also awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produces by neutron irradiation and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons. During Fermi’s early career in Rome, he focused on electrodynamic problems and theoretical investigations on various spectroscopic phenomena, but soon turned his attention from the outer electrons toward the atomic nucleus itself.
The Enrico Fermi awardees are:
Adrianna Antenucci, a graduating senior from John F. Kennedy Catholic Preparatory School in Somers, New York, says heritage has helped her to become more resourceful and to not be discouraged by criticism.
Samantha Barca is a graduating senior from The Ursuline School in New Rochelle. She is one of the most academically conscious and diligent students who is described as an intelligent, responsible and hardworking young woman who is passionate about science and uses her skills to help educate others.
Penelope Cloonan is a graduating senior from Yonkers High School. She is a candidate for the Seal of Biliteracy in English and Italian and is the recipient of The Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award from the University of Rochester. which is an award given to students who display academic rigor in science and math while positively contributing to their community. Her passion for science has led to immunology research at Regeneron where she spent 12 weeks over the past two summers working in a full-time position as a mentorship student.
Vincent Daly is a graduating senior from Regis High School where he is taking the most rigorous course load possible at his school, as well as four years excelling and studying the Chinese language. His strong commitment to academics is matched only by his outstanding dedication to his community. As a result of the pandemic, Daly founded a thriving tutoring business and currently has many tutors working for him. Recognizing the importance of education in transcending cycles of poverty, he also created a volunteer branch called DT Cares, a free tutoring service for students from underprivileged families.
Lucia Lammers is a graduating senior from Harrison High School who has won multiple science awards and is a finalist at the 2024 NYSSEF International Science and Engineering Fair. She is a Nationwide Top 300 Scholar in the 2024 Regeneron Science Research Talent Search and at 7 years old, after receiving a sewing machine for Christmas taught herself to sew, which led her to conduct research with the Fashion Institute of Technology and develop methods to dye fabric on her own, demonstrating her impressive ability to integrate an environmental science and chemistry project into the world of fashion.
Nina Loren Maloney is a graduating senior from Maria Regina High School and is the founder and president of the Engineering Club at the school. Her leadership skills and passion for science and math shine through in how she runs the club. She says her Italian heritage has stressed the importance of working for what she believes in, because nothing will come to her if she sits back and waits for it.
Emily Moccia is a graduating senior from Yonkers Montessori Academy. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Math Honor Society and a Semifinalist for the Ronald Reagan General Electric Scholarship. Emily strives to see change in her environment. Not only does she excel academically, she also performs exceptionally well in a competitive environment and was awarded honors in All Section 1 League Softball for the past three years. She enjoys spending time with her five siblings and hopes to continue the legacy of her parents.
Cassandra Pelosi is a graduating senior from North Salem High School who has an innate curiosity and passion for learning. She has won several excellence awards in numerous AP classes, as well as being the recipient of the Harvard Book Award, RIT Business Leadership Award, NYS Comptroller Award, and HOBY Leadership Award. Inspired by her interest in science and her Italian heritage’s strong work ethic and sense of values, Pelosi plans to pursue a pre-med track and major in biology.