Catalyzing excellence: Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program drives lifelong success
Former Davis-Bahcall Scholar, Dr. Bryce Frentz, reflects on his career in physics and data science, 15 years after his STEM focused globetrot.
There is a point in the career of any science student when they come to the edge of human knowledge—when learning what is already known gives way to exploring the vast expanse of the unknown. For Bryce Frentz, that moment came in 2010 at Italy’s Gran Sasso National Laboratory, where he visited as a Davis-Bahcall Scholar.
“I asked a question following a lecture and the professor just looked at me, and he was like, ‘You know, that's such a good question. Nobody knows the answer to that,’” Frentz said.
The moment made an impression. “It was a real crystallization that there's so much I don't know and there's still so much research actively being done that I could contribute to.”
One of the goals of the Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program is to provide pivotal moments like this. Each summer, the program takes students across the country—and abroad—on tours of national laboratories, universities, and research facilities. Along the way, scholars gain hands-on exposure to the world of scientific research and inspiration for future careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). For Bryce Frentz, a graduate of Sioux Falls Washington High School, taking part in the 2010 scholar program helped define the rest of his career.
“In some ways, my whole life afterwards, you could say, has been an ambassadorship of the Davis-Bahcall program. The things that I learned, the knowledge I gained, the things that I've gone on to do, I know that a lot of that wouldn't have been possible,” Frentz said.
It wasn’t long before Frentz stepped into the expanse of the unknown and began contributing to world-class science. His academic journey took him through Concordia College, where he earned a degree in physics, and then to graduate school at Notre Dame where he studied how stars form elements. That research led him back to the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), where he joined the Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research (CASPAR) experiment (read more in this 2017 article).
“It very much was a full circle moment for me. Some of the things that I saw in the planning stages as a Davis-Bahcall Scholar in 2010 came to full fruition by the time I was working on my Ph.D. in CASPAR. The scholars program gave me a personal connection to SURF. It felt close to home and very rewarding to come back and kind of close that loop,” Frentz said.
Work on SURF’s underground particle accelerator, CASPAR, is an education all its own. Students take a hands-on approach: not only reading and interpreting data but also turning wrenches, plumbing vacuum tubes and soldering circuit boards. For Frentz, the experience sharpened his problem-solving skills.
“At CASPAR, we built everything. We had to plan each day and when things weren't working, we had to take apart the accelerator and figure out what happened and diagnose why. We often did this while our professor slept, because it was three in the morning. And so, CASPAR was very much student led and really helped build a strong foundation in a way that I don't think other programs and or other research positions did,” Frentz said.
After earning his doctorate in physics from Notre Dame, Frentz transitioned into industry as a data scientist. Today, he works in corporate finance at Humana. “The work I do now is data analytics and modeling for fraud detection and financial forecasting,” Frentz said.
Frentz notes the analytical skills he picked up during his academic career translate well to industry. “My physics background and work are very unique skill set. It has served me well, and I think will serve pretty much anyone well who makes the transition from academia to industry.”
In 2010, both the Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program and SURF were relatively new. SURF was planning or just beginning construction on the 4850 Level, and the Davis Bahcall Scholars Program, then in its third year, was still taking shape. More than 15 years after its inception, the Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program boasts a long list of accomplished alumni.
“This is a program by which some of South Dakota's best and brightest students, who are arguably among the most qualified, most curious young people, are going to be put in positions where they will be helped along a trajectory into success in STEM careers,” Frentz said. “You're sending people out into the world as more readily equipped ambassadors of South Dakota, and to live up to the the highest ideals to which I think we all aspire to.”
Applications for the 2026 Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program are now open. The program, run by the Institute for Underground Science at SURF has built a solid track-record of inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders. Read past scholar interviews here.
Significant financial and in-kind support for this program are provided by South Dakota Science and Technology Authority, Black Hills State University, First PREMIER Bank, and the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium. The program has also received support from private donors through the SURF Foundation, which has helped keep this opportunity strong for South Dakota students.
