Amazing Alumna: Former Dual-Degree Engineering Student and Triple-Threat Athlete Named Linus Pauling Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Payton Beeler, Class of 2018, chose Westminster College because she wanted to do it all: play three varsity sports, double major in physics and chemistry, and be accepted into a prestigious graduate school for advanced study in engineering.

The Marshall, Missouri, native did all of that and more.

Beeler played soccer, basketball, and tennis all four years at Westminster. All the while, she juggled courses such as Physics I, II, and III, Electronics, and Theoretical Physics before graduating magna cum laude six years ago from Westminster.

Originally enrolled in the College’s pre-engineering program in cooperation with Washington University in St. Louis, Beeler was quickly accepted into the university’s doctoral program.

Today, Beeler has a PhD in energy, environmental, and chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and is the Linus Pauling Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with the Department of Energy in Richland, Washington.

After the announcement of her prestigious post-doctoral fellowship, a Washington University faculty member reached out to Beeler’s advisor at Westminster, Dr. Laura Stumpe, to see if the College had any other students like Beeler who would be good candidates for their top-ranked research and graduate programs in engineering.

Stumpe replied in the affirmative, “We absolutely have more students to recommend!”

The Associate Professor of Physics and Chair of Mathematics explained that students like Beeler often excel academically because of the one-on-one attention provided by faculty at the small college.

Westminster students also have the opportunity to participate in research that typically would be beyond the scope of a private, four-year college. For Beeler, this meant that she was able to take two Research Experience for Undergraduates courses through the University of Missouri and Kansas State University: Computational Condensed Matter Physics and High-Energy Physics, respectively.

“Payton was an ideal student,” Stumpe recently reflected. “She asked excellent questions and worked hard, was very determined, and would not give up on solving any problem placed before her.”

Beeler continues to solve complex problems in her fellowship ― which centers on investigating how wildfire smoke impacts the climate ― and encourages others with big aspirations to consider Westminster College.

“The foundation I received at Westminster was really strong, so any fears I had originally about advanced study disappeared once I began my program,” Beeler said from her home in Longmont, Colorado, where she enjoys hiking and playing flag football. “My advice to prospective students is this: Don’t be intimidated, and challenge yourself. It’s definitely doable.”

For more information on Westminster’s dual-degree engineering program, please visit our website.