Duquesne graduating senior Madelyn Hoying has earned bachelor's degrees in biomedical engineering and physics, completed an internship with NASA, won a pair of conference championships as a swimmer and also found time to start her own non-profit company.

This fall, she will head to Boston for a graduate program at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

So what is Hoying looking to accomplish next? The answer is out of this world.

Hoying wants to become an astronaut.

"I want to be involved in research that needs to happen in order for humans to survive a trip to Mars," Hoying said acknowledging that her NASA internship opened new doors for her.

Hoying took part in that internship during her sophomore year at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. in 2018, where she worked on developing a solid-state laser with the end goal of doing remote sensing through different materials in space.

Hoying began as a biomedical engineering major in hope of doing cancer research and someday attending medical school. That all changed when she got involved with research within the physics department early in her freshman year.

"That research kind of kickstarted my desire to go into physics," Hoying stated. "It really was amplified when I got an internship at NASA – that's when I decided to focus on space physics."

The opportunity sparked her to lead a number of projects in several NASA competitions over the last three years with other Duquesne students, including fellow swimmer Clare Flanagan, rower Rebecca McCallin as well as cross country/track & field team member Tori Kocsis. These competitions led her to both the Johnson Space Center in Texas and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In the pool, Hoying helped Duquesne win back-to-back Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championships in 2018 and '19, marking the first two conference titles in program history.

She posted 12 of her personal best times during her senior campaign, including the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke at the 2020 A-10 Championship meet and in the 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke and 100-yard backstroke at Liberty University's TYR '85 Invitational. 

Hoying noted one of her proudest moments came at the Liberty meet.  

"It was a really high-level meet, there were a lot of fast teams there," Hoying said. "We finished second to Navy and beat out Vanderbilt, so we ended up doing really well against some bigger schools."

"It was nice to see our team come together like that and show that we can compete at that high platform," Hoying continued.

Following graduation, Hoying is slated to pursue a doctorate in astronautics in a five-year dual program at Harvard and MIT beginning this September.

To assist with her studies, she was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. An extremely competitive program, the Fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

In addition to her academic and athletic triumphs, she worked hard to make an impact in her community. At home in Michigan, Hoying's family has always been very active in foster care, taking in infants from the Detroit area. This inspired Hoying to create FosterRec, a nonprofit dedicated to providing access to athletic opportunities for children in foster care.

"Every time I came home, it was great to see all of these kids and work with them," said Hoying. "I wanted to make sure they had access to the same opportunities that I had growing up. One of the things that has shaped me as a person is athletics."

As an intern at NASA, a college swimmer, and a person with a passion for creating opportunities for foster children, the value of teamwork and a support system seems to be a theme in Hoying's life.

"I always grew up playing sports with a team and it's something vital in my future as I move toward my career," Hoying said. "If I am an astronaut, my whole life will depend on that support system of the people in mission control and the people on the ground to do their jobs correctly in order to keep the astronauts safe."  

Where does Hoying seek motivation for everything she has accomplished and hopes to achieve?

Look no further than Towers Pool.

"I cannot speak highly enough of the work ethic and the dedication of my teammates," Hoying said. "It's something that I really look to for inspiration to keep doing what I'm doing and to push through everything. Just the drive that they have to keep competing, pushing a little harder and going a little further, it's really impressive."

Hoying credits her ability to balance a wide range of activities to her time as a Division I student-athlete.  

"Swimming forced me to stick to a tight schedule to make sure I got everything done that I was looking to do," Hoying added. "The time management, organization and people skills I've developed have all come through swimming."

Even with her extensive academic background combined with her impressive log of practical experience, Hoying has one ace up her sleeve as she aspires to her ultimate goal.

"Astronaut training is done underwater," she said.