Tuscon, ARIZ. (May 18, 2022) – Senior Anna Tifrea (Fullerton, Calif. / Troy) of the Caltech women's tennis team has been named a finalist for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) 2022 Sally Ride Stem Award. Tifrea is the sole Division III athlete nominated for this award; the other finalists include Division I athletes Lauren Gillinov of Yale, Adriene Pavek of Idaho State, and Elizabeth Stefanic of Marshall University.
According to the ITA, the Sally Ride STEM Award, as endowed by Tam O'Shaughnessy, was created to honor a female student-athlete who demonstrates zeal, dedication, and perseverance towards her tennis training and competition, STEM studies, and long-term goals.
Raised by a physicist and medical researcher, Tifrea found a passion for STEM at an early age. During her undergraduate career, the senior was able to compete for the Beavers while obtaining an array of knowledge and increasing her love of STEM. Majoring in physics with a minor in computer science, Tifrea has recently completed research on Alzheimer's and is in the process of studying Crohn's disease. After graduating from Caltech in June, Tifrea will enroll in the MD/PhD program at UC San Diego, where she intends to become a medical doctor with a PhD in Biophysics.
The recipient of the ITA Sally Ride STEM Award will receive a grant in the amount of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) to pursue academic endeavors. In addition, the ITA will also donate two-thousand dollars ($2,000) to the women's tennis program of the institution from which the award winner graduated.
