STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2026
Michael Wightman is from Wayland, Massachusetts. A member of the Class of 2028, he is majoring in neuroscience. Inspired by a brother with a neurodevelopmental disorder, he plans to become a physician who is focused on family education and public policy, along with clinical treatment of neurological diseases. He balances his work in the Penzes Lab with independent research into a mutant protein that appears to underlie such neurological disorders as autism.
Outside the lab and classroom, he serves as President of NU Heights overseeing 100 volunteers who tutor students from the Chicago Math & Science Academy and developing strategies for students with learning and intellectual disabilities.