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Wesleyan grad, Yalie named Rhodes scholars
NEW HAVEN, Nov 23, 2009 (New Haven Register - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
When Geoffrey Shaw's professors at Yale University suggested he apply for a Rhodes Scholarship, he never imagined he'd be selected from among the 805 applicants at 326 schools.
But after a day of interviews S a t u r d a y , Shaw was " s o s u r -- prised and humbled" to learn that he was chosen as one of 32 scholars to study at the University of Oxford in England beginning next October. "It takes a lot of help. There were a lot of people that were sort o f b e h i n d me on this one. A lot of professors, friends. It's d e f i n i t e l y not somet h i n g y o u can do by yourself," he said.
Shaw will be joined next year at Oxford by Yale alumnus Matthew Baum, of Watertown, Mass., and Wesleyan graduate Russell Perkins, of Evanston, Ill.
The scholars' expenses will be fully covered for up to three years of study. The scholarships, worth about $50,000 per year, are awarded for attributes that include high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor.
Perkins graduated from Wesleyan this year with high honors. He co-founded Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education last year, in which Wesleyan faculty teach college courses at the Cheshire Correctional Institution.
"I just found the prison to be an incredibly exciting place to discuss ideas. There's a real drive to know, and an urgency to learning that's just really invigorating, exciting," Perkins said.
Since graduating, he has coordinated the Center for Prison Education full time. At Oxford, he plans to pursue a two-year degree in philosophy.
Shaw, a senior from Belvedere, Calif., majoring in philosophy, is editor-in-chief of the Yale Philosophy Review; serves on the executive committee of Yale College, the board that handles disciplinary disputes; and acts as the head freshman counselor at Branford College. He was former chairman of the Independent Party, one of the parties in Yale's political union.
Shaw said applying for a Rhodes Scholarship is not something one does on a whim.
At Oxford, Shaw plans to study the philosophy of law. He will commit to a two-year program with the option of extending it by one year.
"It's just a huge honor. I hope I can do as much with it as possible," he said.
Perkins interviewed for the scholarship in Boston Saturday. Learning he won, he said, "was totally elating. The group of 14 people, the other finalists, it was such an incredibly talented, smart, motivated group. You just had the feeling that anyone could have gotten it and it would have made sense and totally just have been great. Being singled out was just a total surprise."
Baum couldn't be reached for comment late Sunday. According to the Yale Daily News, Baum, class of 2009, earned bachelor's and master's degrees in molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale. He is now studying for a master's in neuroscience at Trinity College in Ireland as a Mitchell Scholar. He plans to pursue a doctorate of philosophy in neuroethics at Oxford.
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