Lincoln High School's Ashton Fulton Among a Select Few to be Named 2025 Bucklew Scholars at WVU
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on April 12, 2025
Some of the Mountain State’s most accomplished and talented students are set to begin their college careers at West Virginia University as the new cohort of Bucklew Scholars.
Each year, the Bucklew Scholarship is given to 20 high-achieving West Virginia students accepted to the University and qualifies them to be considered for the WVU Foundation Scholarship, the University’s highest academic scholarship.
These exceptional students share a passion for learning and making a positive impact on their communities, participate in a range of extracurricular activities, and are preparing to engage in research and contribute to their chosen fields of study.
Several students will pursue biology degrees as a path to their future careers.
Ashton Fulton, a first-generation student from Lincoln High School whose fascination with the nervous system and brain began in an
anatomy class, said he wants to work as a physician in private practice, and Samantha Ogden from Jefferson High School, a four-year member of Air Force Junior ROTC and pole vaulter, is considering a career as an anesthesiologist.
anatomy class, said he wants to work as a physician in private practice, and Samantha Ogden from Jefferson High School, a four-year member of Air Force Junior ROTC and pole vaulter, is considering a career as an anesthesiologist.
Paige Fox from Pikeview High School, a 4-H member and banjo player, is an aspiring pharmacist, while Emily Garrett from Braxton County High School plans to combine her passion for science and creativity as a portrait artist to become a facial reconstruction surgeon.
Zoey Hoffman from Buffalo High School, a member of FBLA and a volleyball player, said she looks forward to working in the field of immunology or scientific medicine research, and Gabriel Watson from Morgantown High School, who plans to minor in trumpet performance and join the Mountaineer Marching Band, aspires to work as a dentist in rural West Virginia.
Sophia Frame from Charleston Catholic High School, a founding member and captain of her high school’s dance team and Luke Tiu fromWheeling Central Catholic High School, an avid golfer, will use their biology degrees as an unorthodox path to law school.
The following students will major in biology: pre-medical as a stepping stone to careers in medicine.
Meanwhile, Grace Robertson-Villamagna from Wheeling Park High School, a multi-instrumentalist who enjoys singing, is an aspiring pediatric neurologist.
Some of the scholars will pursue careers in engineering and computer science.
Future mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering dual majors Noah Galvin from Martinsburg High School, an avid outdoorsman, is considering a career in propulsion systems at NASA, while Madelynn Jackson, who serves as the head band majorette at Morgantown High School, said she wants to build rockets for the space agency.
Ava Gorrell from Tyler Consolidated High School, an all-state musician on bassoon who would like to major in biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, has plans to work in a career focused on the manufacturing of more sustainable prosthetics.
David Hegele from Shady Spring High School is a euphonium player who will combine his passion for music and innovation as an electrical engineering major minoring music performance, and Hunter Tabler, the captain of his soccer and tennis teams at Spring Mills High School, is an aspiring computer science major who said he wants to help expand access to quality education through the development of AI models.
The following students come to WVU as psychology majors.
Jacqueline Melia from Morgantown High School, a clarinet and guitar player with a deep interest in environmental sustainability who will dually major in neuroscience, is an aspiring pediatric neurologist, while Kaitlyn Speakman from Washington High School, who plans to join Active Minds WVU to help break the stigma attached to mental health, is an aspiring pediatric psychiatrist.
The remaining Bucklew Scholars will major in various fields of study.
Gracelyn Fellure from Ravenswood High School, an active member of FFA and 4-H who said she wants to start off her career as an agricultural teacher, will major in agricultural and extension education.
Julianna Ferrell from Morgantown High School, a guitar and piano player who will major in anthropology and political science, said she wants to bridge her passion for global affairs and the study of human experience to ultimately become a civil servant.
Farhan Shaik from George Washington High School, president of his school’s pickleball club, will major in exercise physiology as he decides if he wants to works as a dentist or physician.
Rounding out the scholars is Tyson Watson from Roane County High School, a future animal and nutritional sciences major minoring in business who lives on a farm and handles show cattle. An aspiring veterinarian, he said he wants to help fulfill the shortage of large and small animal vets in rural areas.
The?Neil S. Bucklew Scholarship?is named after the 20th WVU president and is valued at $60,000, providing its recipients with $15,000 per year over four years to be used toward educational costs. All Bucklew Scholars have qualified for the WVU Honors College and the scholarship may be used in addition to the state’s PROMISE Scholarship.
The scholarships are part of the University’s? comprehensive awards program? and are supported, in part, by the?WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.
