Benjamin Singer ’27 has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship to study algebraic geometry and number theory, one of 454 sophomores and juniors nationwide to earn the scholarship for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Named in honor of the late U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Arizona, the grant-in-aid goes to students who have demonstrated exceptional ability in the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics, according to the program’s website.

“The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award for STEM research, and Ben is incredibly deserving. His commitment to mathematics research, public scholarship, and peer mentoring is admirable: a testament both to his strengths and to the strengths of undergraduate research on campus,” says Christie Harner, associate dean of undergraduate education for fellowships and scholars programs.

Singer, a double major in mathematics and music, grew up in San Diego. He showed an early aptitude in mathematics, and starting in middle school took college-level classes in abstract algebra and differential geometry, among other subjects, at the University of California, San Diego. 

That has permitted him to study at a graduate school level while at Dartmouth. “It’s been a really incredible opportunity,” Singer says.

Salim Tayou, an assistant professor of mathematics and a mentor to Singer, says that he “is showing tremendous potential for an undergraduate student and he has already mastered many advanced topics in algebraic geometry and number theory. I have been consistently impressed by his academic abilities, intellectual curiosity, and passion for pursuing a future in mathematics.”

Singer, who is also a Jack Byrne Scholar in Math and Society, says he spends a lot of his time “thinking about numbers, thinking about how you can solve equations with numbers, and I am interested in the theory behind that—both on the computational side and on the very theoretical side.”

There are important concrete applications for the kind of study he’s engaged in, Singer says, noting that number theory is a foundation for modern cryptography and end-to-end encryption, which prevents third parties from infiltrating communications between a sender and a recipient.

“It turns out that this world of arithmetic geometry provides very, very rich problems that make for very, very hard-to-break encryption systems,” Singer says.

As a teaching assistant for both undergraduate and graduate classes at Dartmouth, Singer wants to go on to earn a PhD and continue teaching. 

The elation in grasping a difficult concept “feels so cathartic,” he says, both as a student and teaching assistant. To see his students’ faces “light up in a way that you don’t really ever get to see otherwise” when they arrive at a Eureka moment is tremendously satisfying. 

Singer is “completely fearless in jumping into some of the most challenging and abstract topics in contemporary mathematics, while at the same time remaining quite grounded in actual computation and problem solving,” says Asher Auel, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and another mentor.

Singer chose to attend Dartmouth because he wanted a campus with a smaller number of students, which would permit him to have a closer relationship with faculty. He also wanted to continue his music studies on the piano in a liberal arts environment. 

For the spring recital, he is practicing Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, a fiendishly intricate solo piano suite, along with pieces by Chopin and Debussy. In his spare time, he watches films with friends (most recently, the 1950s courtroom drama 12 Angry Men) and is the president of Dartmouth’s powerlifting team. 

For his senior thesis, Singer will attempt to plug a gap in the literature of arithmetic geometry. Because no reference books have been written in several years providing an overview of the field, Singer wants to write one that gives, he says, a “strong introduction to these concepts for people with a solid background in algebraic geometry and number theory.”

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For information about applying for scholarship programs, visit the Fellowships Office.