Evan Harris

Hailing from Kohler, Wis., Shelby Horth found her passion for applied mathematics during her freshman year at Wake Forest University. Horth attributes her passion for her major to Dr. John Gemmer and Dr. Frank Moore of Wake Forest’s Applied Mathematics department. 

“They truly built me from the ground up and taught me all of the avenues I could take with a degree in applied mathematics,” Horth said. 

To Horth, Gemmer and Moore are not only her professors but also her best friends. 

A hardworking student both inside and outside of the classroom, Horth was named a 2023 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, a premire scholarship for undergraduate students in science and math. She was one of only 413 students selected across the United States.

In addition to her studies in the classroom, Horth keeps herself busy with her several extracurricular activities. During her freshman and sophomore years at Wake Forest, she was a trombone player for the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black — the Wake Forest marching band. She has also been a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority since her freshman year and joined the robotics team during her sophomore year. 

Horth is part of a project for the robotics team, where she has programmed code for a unique robot that will maintain and monitor Wake Forest’s underground tunnels. She has been working on the project since her sophomore year and has seen her efforts develop into a massive capstone project. Horth is extremely proud of herself and her robotics teammates who have made this incredible project possible.  

Horth is also the organizer for this year’s Integrated Research and Science conference, an event that is co-sponsored by Elon University. This conference will allow undergraduates to present their interdisciplinary research and will host several PhD panelists. 

Starting in the fall, Horth will attend the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. to pursue a PhD in applied mathematics. She hopes to graduate with a dual degree in applied mathematics and aerospace engineering, allowing her to explore several different career paths. 

Recently, Horth was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. She looks forward to completing doctoral research in computational mathematics while a graduate student.

In addition to her professors, Horth is also grateful for the unwavering support of her friends and family, especially her cherished cat Mars. She is incredibly excited for the next chapter of her studies in applied mathematics and is thankful for all of the resources at Wake Forest that have contributed to her academic and personal success.