Orange Alert

Syracuse University, College of Arts and Sciences

Student Earns Astronaut Scholarship

Rising senior Kenna Cummings was recently named a 2026 Astronaut Scholar class, adding a second major national honor to a banner spring.
A student, Kenna Cummings, poses in front of the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant in Iceland wearing a reflective vest.
Kenna Cummings conducted research in Iceland, where she is pictured in front of the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant.

A geology student's work mapping geothermal heat beneath Greenland's ice sheet has helped earned her one of the most prestigious undergraduate STEM awards in the country.

Kenna Cummings '27, a geology major in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), has been named a 2026 Astronaut Scholar by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). She is the only Syracuse University student selected in this year's class of 79 scholars from 54 universities nationwide.

The Astronaut Scholarship adds to an already decorated spring for Cummings. In April, she was among three Syracuse University students named 2026 Goldwater Scholars, one of the most competitive STEM awards in the country, drawing 1,485 nominations nationwide for 454 selections.

Read the full Syracuse University Today story by Kelly Rodoski.

Published: June 18, 2026

Media Contact: asnews@syr.edu