Profiles in Excellence

Washington and Lee Winners of National and International Fellowship Competitions

Scholarships Awarded 2007-2008

         Scholarships Awarded 2006-2007

         Scholarships Awarded 2005-2006

• Boren Scholars 

• Fulbright Scholars

• Gates Scholars

• Goldwater Scholars 

• Luce Scholars

• Andrew W. Mellon Scholars

• NSF Scholars

• Phi Eta Sigma Undergraduate Scholars

• Rhodes Scholars

• Rotary Scholars

• Truman Scholars

• Udall Scholars

• Watson Fellowships

• Other Scholarships and Fellowships

Eric Bassil

Boren Winner-2003

Eric Bassil is the winner of the David Boren Scholarship. This award from the National Security Education Program (NSEP) is given to students who wish to study in an area deemed vital to United State’s national security interests. Boren winners are obligated to accept employment after graduation with a federal national security agency (State Department, CIA, NSA, FBI, DOD). Bassil will study EU expansion, and economic security issues related to the Czech government and NATO at the Charles University in Prague. The fellowship award provides up to $10,000 per term of foreign study.

Source: NSEP website.

2002: Eric Klingelhofer, a Politics major, has received a National Security Education Program David L. Boren Scholarship to study at Bogacizi University in Istanbul next year. He will also spend this summer there studying intensive Turkish language. The NSEP scholarship focuses on geographical areas, languages and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security.

1999: Amy Kane

Source: Washington and Lee Passport, Spring 2002.

Patrick Lawler, a 22-year-old biology major from Washington and Lee, is a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship. As a Fulbright Scholar, Lawler will spend the 2003-2004 academic year as a member of a 20 person team of international scientists, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students undertaking vascular immunology research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. The fellowship carries with it a $22,000 stipend, which will allow Lawler to continue with his scientific work before entering a M.D.-Ph.D. program to become a physician and researcher in cardiology.

Lawler has been interested in medicine since childhood. As a youngster he spent weekends playing with miniature models of the human brain in his father’s research laboratory. By high school, Lawler was working in his father’s lab, probing the cellular mechanisms that fuel the progression of cancerous tumor growth. By college, Lawler was cited as co-author of research published in journals including Cancer Research, Nature-Medicine, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He also gained significant hands on experience through his volunteer work with the Lexington rescue squad, as well as summer work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. From that experience Lawler has developed ideas of his own about heart disease that he plans to pursue as a Fulbright Scholar. "I believe that a considerable amount can be learned [about] cellular and molecular events of cardiovascular disease by considering the diverse behaviors of populations."

During his four years at Washington and Lee, Lawler excelled not only at academics, consistently making the dean’s list and honor roll, but also served as an officer in Kappa Sigma fraternity, and as editor-in-chief of the Washington and Lee Journal of Science – a twice yearly publication whose content and professional appearance has been significantly enhanced by Lawler’s leadership.

Source: Washington and Lee University website, March, 2003.

Kirsten Malm studied "European Economic Integration and Trade Flows," in Germany and the other countries of the European Union. As an economics major, Malm began her research in the summer of 1999 when she worked with economics professor Michael Anderson. She and Anderson studied the "border effect." They built on the research of economist John McCallum, who found that Canadian provinces are 22 times more likely to trade with other provinces than with the United States. The "border effect" is the name given to McCallum’s findings. Malm said they had not realized that the trade gap was so large.  Malm was in Germany from Aug. 9, 2000 to July 15, 2001.
  When she gets back to the United States, Malm will attend Harvard University’s Law School.

Source: The Trident, April 26, 2000

Gunay Evinch, '91L, who recieved Fulbright scholarship in Turkey, is doing his part to help U.S. diplomacy in the rapidly developing and diplomatically crucial nation. He's hosting a monthly cocktail party.

While the get-together at his apartment in the capital city of Ankara isn't all Evinch is doing, the party is a tremendous learning experience both for his guests and himself.

"Part of the Fulbright grant is that we are to be representatives of the United States, and to do this, I have a cocktail party every month," said Evinch, who lectured at the School of Law in February 2001. "I invite members of the press, leaders in government and diplomatic circles, and I invite the average Turk, like my bank teller. It's an incredible exchange of ideas."

His primary research for the Fulbright Scholarship is being done in Ankara and Istanbul.

Evinch, a Turkish-American whose parents are native Turks, said Turkey is at a crucial point in its development. The legendary Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish nation, began Western reform in Turkey in the 1920s, and that development made dramatic progress under President Turgat Ozal. Yet while Turkey leans toward Western and democratic ideas, it is also Islamic, and as a result, it finds itself in an international political tug of war. It faces the slings and arrows of terrorism sponsored by Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Libya, countries that want to see democracy fail in favor of Islamic fundamentalism.

Turkey then must try to keep its liberal democratic idealism alive and at the same time try to maintain ideal human rights, despite being pushed to the limit by terrorists. Evinch explained that Turkey is in a Catch-22 when terrorists who bomb shopping malls are arrested. Severe disciplinary action brings complains of human rights violations, yet leniency provides for an atmosphere where terrorism can thrive.

"They feel the pressure to make democracy work," Evinch said. "And I think it is working, and it will work."

Evinch's research in human rights has him delving into these dilemmas faced by Turkish leaders. Evinch pointed to a number of recent legal reforms as important changes in Turkey's growing liberal democracy. A Miranda law was instituted, pre-hearing detention periods were lessened, and previous "no-talking" periods have been eliminated.

The problem for Turkey is that these good measures often are not publicized, at least not in the way that negative images are sometimes portrayed. The notion of the Turkish prison as promoted by films like Midnight Express hasn't helped--and is not close to reality. The film depicted the true story of the arrest, imprisonment, and mistreatment of American Billy Hays in a prison in Turkey.

"Midnight Express was an exaggeration," Evinch said. "The problem is that while there is quickly a mobilization of blame for things that go wrong, there is not a mobilization of credit when things go right."

Evinch said the Turkey of today has a bright, but trying future.

"The tourist's expectations will be much lower than the reality," Evinch said. "There will be growing pains, but I believe the change for the better is irreversible."

Source: W&L Alumni Magazine, Spring 1992

William A. Kanner – 2000 – Physics – India

Kristoffer Neville – 1999 – Art/Architectural History – Sweden

Elizabeth Rodd – 1999 – Teaching English as a second language – France

Christiana Callahan – 1998 – Biology – Germany

Sanford G. Hooper – 1997 – Teaching – France

Susan L. Hall – 1997 – studied at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, as part of a Fulbright Scholarship. Her research project was entitled "New Zealand Literature: The Product of Pakeha and Maori Culture" (Source: The Fulbright Website)

Howard Glover – 1996 – "A reapplication of Heideggerian thought in literary analysis" – Germany

Graig Fantuzzi – 1996 – "Does an advanced foreign exchange market lead to increased foreign investment?" – Singapore

Kelly Brotzman – 1995 – used her Fulbright Scholarship to study the historical theology of the Protestant Reformation in Heidelberg, Germany (Source: Alumni Magazine, 1996)

Joshua Cook – 1995 – spent a year in Germany, where he studied economics and conducted research as a Fulbright Fellow. Cook’s research concerned labor migration and capital market development in reunified Germany

Sharon Widmayer - 1995 (Class of 1991) - Revision styles in second language writing – Austria

Allyson Gardner – 1995 – Teaching – France

Benjamin Eggleston – 1994 – Scotland

Russell Leavitt – 1993 – Germany

Robyn McCord – 1993 – France

Seamane Flanagan – 1992 – spent a year in Paris teaching English as a Fulbright Fellow (Source: Alumni Magazine, Winter 1997)

Fred Rush – 1993 (Class of 1978) – Germany

Walter B. Todd – 1993 – Jamaica, W.I.

Charles Haake – 1992 – Germany

Alice Ashley Hurt – 1992 – Germany

Thomas Daniel Knight – 1992 - England

Stephen Hornbuckle – 1991 – Germany

Simone Schonenberger – 1991 – Switzerland

Bryant Spann – 1991 – Germany

Kathleen Morrison – 1990 – Germany

Steven Rodgers – 1990 – Switzerland

Mary Katherine Seymour – 1990 – Switzerland

Barbara Byington – 1989 – West Germany

Dana Anstine – West Germany – 1989

John Boller – 1989 – Switzerland

Molly Hall – 1988(L)

Cathy Tucker – 1988 – Germany

Gregory Russell – 1988 – Germany

D. Shawn Harvey – 1986 – Germany

Robert E. Treat – 1986 – Germany

Lawrence Anker – 1986 – studied chemistry in Wurzburg, West Germany, and worked under a grant from the Fulbright/DAAD Commission. He also coached the American High School wrestling team in Wurzburg. In August 1987, he started Ph.D. studies at Pennsylvania State University. (Source: Alumni Magazine, January/February 1987)

Brian Balaz – 1985 – ITT Fellowship – Germany

David Connor – 1985 – Germany – majored in political science and German at W&L, used his grant to conduct research at the University of Bonn. His project involved researching the political implications for West Germany of declining birth rates.

Stephen Jones – 1984 – Germany

Jeff Gee – 1984 – ITT Fellowship – Germany

Scott Hall – 1983

Mike Streiff – 1983 – Germany

Brett Wohler – 1981 – Germany

Mark Scully – 1981 – Germany

Edward A. Johnson – 1981 – Israel

William Crowdus – 1981 – Germany

Percy Davis Ayres – 1981 (Class of 1979) – West Germany

Source: The Fulbright Website

Four years ago, Washington and Lee University freshman Daniel Birdwhistell appeared in the school's "Face Book" for incoming students. He listed as his interests the widely differing endeavors of education reform and mudsliding.

Since that time, he has worked tenaciously toward a career as a teacher and education policy expert.

Birdwhistell, who will graduate Thursday from Washington and Lee, majored in psychology and public policy as an honors student. He assisted research for Early Head Start improvements as an intern in Greensboro, NC. He helped lead a lobbying effort to improve teacher quality in his home state of Kentucky. And he wrote a thesis on the effects of stress on the creative ability of Lexington middle school pupils.

The 22-year-old Birdwhistell is among 40 students from across the country selected for the inaugural class of a new international scholarship program at England's Cambridge University. He wants to earn a master's degree at Cambridge in politics, democracy and education on his way to a career in teaching and education policy.

Harlan Beckley, a Washington and Lee religion professor who has taught him in two courses and several independent studies, said Birdwhistell has pursued education policy with a focus uncommon for an undergraduate. "That's something that's stuck with Dan the entire time he has been here," Beckley said. "That's highly unusual for someone to have that clear a vision of what they want to do and to follow through with it."

David Elmes, a psychology professor who has been an adviser to Birdwhistell during his Washington and Lee years, called the graduating senior "highly energetic." "He was pretty mature when he got here in the sense that he was interested in lots of important kinds of things," Elmes said.

Although he describes himself as a "dabbler," Birdwhistell has doggedly tracked his goals in education. Mudsliding, his other freshman year passion, he has left in the past. It was a ritual with friends in the north central Kentucky hills, he said. "After it rained a great deal, we would find a big hill, smooth down the grass, and slide down on our stomachs," he said.

This fall, he will enter Cambridge among the first cohort of Gates Cambridge Scholars, a program fashioned after the prestigious Rhodes Scholars program at Oxford University.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, established the scholarship last year with a $210 million gift. The Cambridge Scholars chosen from the United States so far will join up to 85 others from around the world. The scholarship recipients are picked from thousands of applicants judged for their academic prowess and leadership potential.

Birdwhistell gave credit to parents, Jack and Nancy Birdwhistell, both professors at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., who nourished his wide-ranging curiosities with encouragement.

That encouragement was often practical. As a 5-year-old, he embraced the notion that there were dinosaur fossils buried in his backyard. His parents encouraged him to satisfy his own curiosity on that possibility--but not with toys, pictures or even books.

They gave him a shovel.

"They said 'Get digging,'" Birdwhistell recalled. The same went with coins and stamps, he said: Start gathering.

"I was a little dilettante--I was a dabbler growing up," he said. "I was just fortunate to have parents who would nurture that."

He's never quite stopped trying out different things. He was president of his class at Washington and Lee his freshman and sophomore years. The last two years, he's been a member of the school's gospel choir, Joyful Noise. He's an associate editor and writer for the Washington and Lee student literary and art quarterly.

He taught himself black-and-white photography two years ago, and has since put on two exhibits in downtown Lexington of 45 photos titled "Southeastern Wanderings."

Birdwhistell also lists as his hobbies hiking, camping and oil painting.

He rounds out an all-education clan. His sister, Cory, is working on a doctorate in public administration at the University of Kentucky. Her focus: education.

Birdwhistell is already familiar with currents of instructional theory. He likes the Montessori style of student-initiated learning. He attended a Montessori school for three years, he said.

Among his main interests in education are the factors that weigh against underprivileged children. One such factor, he believes, is tracking, or grouping classes by ability. "All the studies I've looked at show that homogeneously-grouped classes are mainly detrimental to the lower and middle students," he said.

He envisions a school system for the future that attends to the needs of all children.

"I want children to have the opportunity to be what they are: marvelous, unpredictable, and sometimes uncontrollable little people with the potential to change the world," Birdwhistell said.

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 4, 2001

Amie M. Lucier is among 300 students in the country to win Goldwater Scholarships for their academic success in the fields of mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences.

Lucier, a geology major from Williamsburg, is one of just 198 young science scholars selected to receive the $7,500 academic grant for the 2001-02 academic year. Only faculty may nominate students for the program, whose awards are based on academic merit. About 1,200 students nationally competed for this year's scholarships.

Since its inception, 39 Goldwater Scholars have gone on to win coveted Rhodes Scholarships. Hundreds of others have received distinguished fellowships through the Marshall, Churchill and Fulbright programs and academic honors from the National Science Foundation.

Lucier plays field hockey at Washington and Lee and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, a national academic fraternity for students with exceptionally high grades at the close of their freshmen year.

Source: W&L Press Release, April 9, 2001.

Rachael M. Easton, '92, a chemistry major from Plano, Texas, was named a 1990 Scholar by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

She is the first Washington and Lee student ever to receive a Goldwater scholarship. The U.S. Congress created the scholarship program to foster and encourage excellence in science and mathematics.

Easton is a member of Chi Omega sorority and the Student Activities Board. She also participated in the Robert E. Lee research program.

Source: Alumni Magazine, Winter 1990

Angela Roman – 2000 – Class of 2001

Michele Connors – 1998 – Class of 2000

S.R. Evans – 1995 – Class of 1997

Robert Eison – 1993 – Class of 1993

Mary Jo Geyer – 1992 – Class of 1994

Jennifer Beam, a politics and Spanish major, was selected as a Luce Scholar in 1996. After having focused on Spanish and Latin America at W&L, the Luce Scholars program truly introduced Jennifer Beam to the other side of the world--Asia--where the cultural differences and lessons were greater than she had imagined.

Beam worked in East Java, Indonesia for the Rural Development Foundation. She lived in nearby Malang.

"Living and working in Indonesia challenged me personally, intellectually, and professionally in ways that will continue to enrich me and my experiences for years to come," she said.

The Luce scholarships were established to provide future American leaders with a deeper, first-hand appreciation of Asian cultures and societies. Every year fifteen American college graduates are chosen to live for ten months in East and Southeast Asia and to work with fellow professionals there. The Luce Scholars program is not for Asian specialists or for those who have already lived for some time in Asia; instead, it offers a cultural and experiential opportunity to those with career interests outside of Asian studies who might not otherwise live or work in East Asia.

Source: W&L's Graduate Fellowships Brochure and Alumni Magazine, Winter 1997

Kevin B. Dwyer, '81, is one of 15 national winners of Luce Scholarship for a year's study in East Asia. Dwyer, who is currently a second-year law student at the University of Virginia, is the third Washington and Lee nominee to be named a Luce Scholar as part of the program that began in 1974.

W&L is one of 60 colleges selected by the Henry A. Luce Foundation of New York to participate in the program by nominating qualified students. The Luce Scholars Program is unique in that it excludes Asian specialists and international affairs experts in favor of young men and women whose leadership potential is in fields totally unrelated to Asian specialties.

A native of Leesburg, VA., Dwyer is a magna cum laude graduate of W&L where he majored in English.

At W&L, he was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa. He was a member of the W&L Glee Club, the Rockbridge Symphony Orchestra, and Mu Beta Psi, the honorary fraternity recognizing leadership in music. He was active in the University Theatre and was on the editorial staff of the student newspaper. He was a National Merit Scholar.

Luce Scholars are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, a clearly defined career interest, leadership potential, and adaptability to other cultures.

Source: Alumni Magazine, May 1983

2003: Anne Hazlett

Andrew W. Mellon - 1999

In 1999, Krisoffer Johan Neville, was selected as an Honorary Fellow in The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies Program. Neville received a degree in art history from W&L. The fellowships are designed to help exceptionally promising students prepare for careers of teaching and scholarship in humanistic disciplines. The Mellon Fellowship is a competitive award for student planning to pursue a doctorate degree. Fellows may take their awards to any accredited graduate program in the United States or Canada. The Fellowship covers graduate tuition and required fees for the first year of graduate study and includes a stipend of $17,500. There have been more than 1,800 Fellows since the competition began in 1982. Mellon Fellows now holding the Ph.D. are teachers and scholars at some of the nation’s top colleges and universities.

Source: The Mellon Website

Ben Eggleston – 1994 – declined

David L. Harrar II, a Washington and Lee senior from Rydal, Pa., won a National Science Foundation Fellowship for Graduate Study.

He was among 540 fellowship winners chosen from 4,400 applicants. The fellowships are for graduate study in the natural and social sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

A mathematics and physics major at Washington and Lee, Harrar used the fellowship to pursue graduate studies in the department of applied mathematics at the University of Virginia.

Source: W&L Gazette, May/June 1985

Jeffrey S. Gee, a 1984 graduate from Johnson City, Tenn., won a National Science Foundation Fellowship for Graduate Study.

He was among 540 fellowship winners chosen from 4,400 applicants. The fellowships are for graduate study in the natural and social sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

Gee, who is currently studying in Germany on an ITT Fellowship, will attend the Scripps Institute at the University of California at San Diego.

Gee studied geology while at W&L. He was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national society for campus leaders. He was a member of the varsity swimming team and the W&L Glee Club.

Source: W&L Gazette, May/June 1985 and March 1984

Jennifer Beam – 1999 – Class of 1996

Michael Aarstol – 1989 – Class of 1989

Lawrence Anker – 1989 – Class of 1989

John Boller – 1989 – Class of 1989

2003: Cullen Carter

1999: Sara K. Petersen

1998: Shannon Bell

1997: Jason T. Shaffer

1994: Kelly Brotzman

1992: Charles Erdman

Patricia Lopes, a senior from Kailua, Hawaii, has received a Rhodes scholarship. Lopes is one of 32 students from across the country awarded the prestigious scholarship for two years' study at England's Oxford University. She will study politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford.

The Rhodes scholars, who were selected in early December, are chosen on a regional basis from across the United States. The candidates are judged on intellectual achievement, character, leadership, and physical vigor.

Lopes is majoring in politics and journalism. She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, the freshman honor society, and Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership fraternity founded at W&L. She is coeditor of the Ring-tum Phi, chairwoman of the student publications board, and a four-year-letter-winner on the women's cross- country team. She has also served as a dormitory counselor and resident assistant.

Last summer, Lopes was an intern reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She has worked as a legislative intern in the Washington, D.C., office of Sen. Daniel Inouye and as a workshop instructor for educational television with Hawaii's Department of Education.

Source: Alumni Magazine, Winter 1990

John C. Vlahoplus, a 1983 graduate of Washington and Lee, has become the University's 13th Rhodes Scholar.

Vlahoplus was one of 32 students from throughout the nation awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships in December for two to three years' study at Oxford University in England.

A native of Columbia, S.C., Vlahoplus is currently a first-year student at the Harvard Law School.

Vlahoplus applied for the Rhodes from his home state of South Carolina and was one of the four winners from the Southern District. Washington and Lee senior Timothy Valliere, tri-captain of the Generals' wrestling team, was among the 12 finalists interviewed in the Southern District.

An economics major as a W&L undergraduate, Vlahoplus will study international law at Oxford. He will begin his studies next October and plans to return to Harvard Law School after completing two years at Oxford.

"My plans are to receive the M.A. in jurisprudence from Oxford and then to return to Harvard for one year and receive my J.D. from Harvard," Vlahoplus said after learning of the award.

Vlahoplus received the bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude from W&L last June with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He was one of three valedictorians honored during W&L's commencement exercises.

He originally applied for the Rhodes while a senior at W&L and was unsuccessful. He decided to try a second time "partly because of the competitive nature of the Rhodes process but primarily because of my desire to learn about law and about international trade from a European standpoint."

Vlahoplus said that having gone through the Rhodes competition a year ago was undoubtedly beneficial in his quest this year.

"I felt a little more comfortable in the various situations," said Vlahoplus. "Basically the questions asked in the interviews this year were very similar to the questions I was asked a year ago. I found the first year that so many credentials are similar that it comes down to how much you care and why you want to fight the world's fight."

Vlahoplus' essay dealt with international trade and his belief that freeing up trade barriers will create mutual economic interests which, in turn, will improve relationships between the peoples of the world.

"With a direct pecuniary interest in a country there is bound to come a fairly strong desire not to shoot up a country in which you have such an interest," Vlahoplus said.

Vlahoplus believes that his participation in the Harvard defenders program was a valuable addition to his background for the Rhodes competition, but "the values and the background that I had for this competition were all established while I was at Washington and Lee. My application involved very little updating."

At W&L, Vlahoplus was Phi Beta Kappa and was president of the University's chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership fraternity.

He received several major awards while at W&L, including the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallion, which is awarded by the W&L faculty to the graduating senior who excels "in high ideals of living, spiritual qualities, and generous disinterested service to others," and the Edward Lee Pinney Prize for the student who demonstrates extraordinary commitment both to personal scholarship and to the nurturing of intellectual life at W&L.

The winner of a Harry S. Truman Scholarship while an undergraduate, Vlahoplus was active on the Student Recruitment Committee and in the Young Democrats and was representative to the student government during his junior and senior years.

Source: W&L Alumni Magazine, January 1984

Edward A. Johnson, a Washington and Lee senior, has become the University's 12th Rhodes Scholar and its fourth in the last 10 years.

Johnson was one of 32 men and women from throughout the nation awarded the coveted scholarships in December.

And while one television interviewer in Johnson's hometown of Huntsville, Ala., was apparently under the impression that the Rhodes is somehow connected with the Nashville Sound, Johnson's area of expertise is actually physics, not country-western music.

He will graduate this spring with two separate degrees--a B.S. in physics and a B.S. in mathematics--and will spend at least two years of study in physics at Oxford University in England starting in October.

Not long after he had won the scholarship after a regional interview in New Orleans, Johnson was interviewed by a reporter whose knowledge of the Rhodes was limited to one of its former (but certainly one of its more visible recipients)--country music singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson.

"Since Kristofferson was the only Rhodes Scholar the interviewer had heard of, I was asked how it felt to be on my way to a career as a country music entertainer," recalled Johnson.

Happily, that question was asked--and answered--before the cameras started rolling.

The Kristofferson connection notwithstanding, Rhodes Scholars have traditionally been associated, in the public mind, leastways, with achievement in athletics. (It should be duly noted, too, that Kristofferosn was a football player of some renown at Pomona College before he started pickin' and singin'.)

When Cecil J. Rhodes, British colonial pioneer and statesman, created the scholarships, one of his requisites for recipients was that they demonstrate "physical vigor, as shown by fondness for and success in sports."

As tradition has it, an Oxford don once put the scholarship in perspective during a conversation with a Rhodes Scholar who had just arrived from the United States. "Let me see if I have this right," said the don. "A Marshall Scholar is more clever, but a Rhodes Scholar can run faster. Is that it?"

According to Johnson, however, that popular conception of a Rhodes Scholar as an All-American quarterback does not necessarily hold true-nowadays--if, indeed, it ever did.

"There is not the jock emphasis now that there was 10 years ago in Rhodes competition," Johnson observed. "You do have to have some jock credentials. But the day is gone when a Phi Beta Kappa key and a football captaincy automatically translate into a Rhodes scholarship."

For his part, Johnson demonstrates his "physical vigor" by jogging religiously, teaching swimming, and sailing--all of which were apparently vigorous enough for the Rhodes committee.

"I had been somewhat worried about my athletic background when I began pursuing the Rhodes," admitted Johnson, who represented his home state of Alabama in the competition and was one of four winners in the six-state Gulf district (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas).

"In New Orleans during my final interview, I was asked about organized sports and what I thought of them. I suggested to the interviewers that I was more likely to continue my jogging and swimming at Oxford than a football player would be to continue playing football there. All I'll need is a pair of running shoes; a football player would need 21 other football players and a good deal of equipment."

If that argument did not sufficiently sway the interviewing committee, then Johnson's intimate knowledge of violin bows must have.

"In an earlier interview in Birmingham, I was asked at some length about the details of violin bow construction and how it had changed over the centuries," said Johnson, who happened to be well versed in that particular subject since he is a violinist.

"I think what impressed me most about the interview process was the incredible breadth of knowledge they expect from the candidates. It seemed to me that, more than anything, they were seeking people who can take widely divergent ideas and play with them. My final interview in New Orleans, for instance, lasted 50 minutes, but included only two questions specifically about physics."

The other questions ranged from one about the relationship between technology and science to Johnson's favorite inquiry of the proceedings: which idea is more important to mankind relativity or the resurrection?

"It would have taken at least half an hour to compliment the fellow on the question itself," said Johnson.

Though the questions were all new to him, the interview procedure itself was not--thanks in large measure to W&L's Graduate Fellowship Committee, which staged a mock interview to help prepare Johnson for what awaited him along the way.

Professor William W. Pusey was chairman of the mock interview committee, which included Professor John M. Evans, Professor George S. Whitney, and Professor John M. Gunn.

"The practice interview is a service we provide applicants for the Rhodes and any other scholarships which include such an interview process," said Professor Edwin D. Craun, chairman of the graduate Fellowship Committee. "We cannot, of course, predict the exact questions a candidate will be asked. But we try to create the same atmosphere and ask the same general type of question candidates will get in the actual interview."

Johnson felt one of the most rewarding benefits (the $16,800 annual stipend notwithstanding) of his Rhodes experience was the interaction among the candidates.

"There were 12 of us at the regional interview in New Orleans. And we spent six hours gnawing our fingernails in unison while the committee deliberated," Johnson said. "The group ranged from a Harvard philosophy major to the top-ranking cadet at West Point. Everyone there was so impressive. It made for an extremely interesting experience."

Interesting, too, was the response Johnson received in his hometown of Huntsville. There was the customary round of media interviews, talk show appearances and the like.

But there were also some curious telephone calls.

"I must have gotten a dozen crank calls from people who had read the announcement and apparently decided they wanted to get into an argument with a Rhodes Scholar," said Johnson. "Mostly, I obliged them."

Johnson, who has a four-year ROTC scholarship and has been active in Washington and Lee's ROTC program, hopes to be able to get a year's extension on the scholarship in order to complete work on a Ph.D. at Oxford.

His honors research project at W&L, under the guidance of Professor Tom Williams, is on the topic of theoretical quantum mechanics. He ranks 14th in his class of 285.

Source: W&L Alumni Magazine, January 1981 

2002: David Newheiser (Virginia)

2001: Sara Heusel (Virginia), Sam Langholtz (Iowa), Kathie Soroka (New Jersey)

2000: Daniel Birdwhistell (Kentucky), Joshua Chamberlain (Virginia), Christine Metzger (Virginia), and Jennifer Strawbridge (Texas)

1998: Stephanie Wolfe (Tennessee)

1996: Trevor Stockinger (Tennessee) and James Turner (Virginia)

1995: S.R. Evans (Mississippi), Graig Fantuzzi (Virginia), Jesse Taylor (Illinois), and Peter Weissman (Florida)

John D. Wilson

President (1983-95)

Edwin M. Yoder, Jr.

Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Humanities

Clifford R. Larsen

Professor of Law, Director of International Legal Studies Program

John Zimmer – 2000

Kristofer Harrison – 1998

Brian Hooper – 1998

Daniel Felton, IV – 1995 – spent 10 months on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean as a Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar with Rotary International (Source: Alumni Magazine, Summer 1996)

Jonathan Van Dyke – 1995 – studied art at the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland on a Rotary Club scholarship (Source: Alumni Magazine, Winter 1996)

Matthew Jackson – 1994 – Ireland

Clark H. Lewis – 1985 – Australia

Mark Monyek – 1985 – Edinburgh

Steve Corbielle – 1983 – Australia

Scott Bond – 1982 – Austria

Robert H. Willis, Jr. – 1981

D. Bruce Poole – 1981

Richard Bird – 1980

Dan Birdwhistell was selected as a Truman Scholar during his junior year at W&L. The Truman Scholars assemble for a week-long leadership development program at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and receive their awards in a special ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.
  
The Truman scholarship is awarded to students with an interest in government and public service. Birdwhistell was a public policy and psychology major at W&L and also attended classes at Mary Baldwin to receive his teaching certificate. 
  
Birdwhistell says his main interest is education. Dan Birdwhistell dreams of an ideal educational system in America: one led by strong, effective administrators and teachers that enables every student to receive the best education possible. At W&L, Birdwhistell served as President of Students for Excellence in Education. He plans to pursue a master's degree in administration and social policy. "I’d like to teach here and there," he said.

Source: The Trident, April 26, 2000 and the Truman website

Melissa Sawyer of Athens, Ohio, a junior at Washington and Lee University, has been chosen a 1996 Truman Scholar and winner of $30,000 Truman Scholarship. The Harry S. Truman Foundation, from which the scholarships come, was established by Congress in 1975.

The scholarships are awarded to students with outstanding leadership potential, who have extensive records of public and community service, possess intellectual strength, communication skills, and analytical abilities, plan to pursue careers in government or elsewhere in public service, and wish to attend graduate school to help them prepare for their careers.

This year the scholarships were awarded to approximately 85 students out of over 800 nominated. Truman Scholars participate in leadership development programs and have special opportunities for internships and employment with the federal government.

Sawyer is an economics major at Washington and Lee. Her public policy interests are focused upon rural poverty in the Midwest, with a particular interest in child welfare. A graduate of Athens High School, she is the daughter of Mrs. Anne Villers of Athens and Mr. Ron Sawyer of Bellingham, Washington.

Source: W&L Press Release, March 15, 1996

Sophomore John C. Vlahaplus, has been awarded a prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship. Vlahoplus, an economics major from Columbia, S.C., was one of 79 undergraduates from throughout the United States to receive Truman Scholarships this year and the second W&L student to win a Truman Scholarship since the program began in 1977.

Vlahoplus, who carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average at Washington and Lee, was also named the winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Sophomore Award. He is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma freshman honorary society, the Student Recruitment Committee, the fencing team, and Phi Kappa Phi social fraternity.

Truman scholarships are awarded to college undergraduates who are preparing for a career in "public service," which is loosely defined as participation in government. The scholarship program, emphasizing potential leadership ability in recipients, is federally funded as a memorial to President Harry S. Truman.

Each scholarship covers tuition, books, and room and board, to a maximum of $5,000 per year up to four years of study. It may be used during the recipient's junior and senior years of college and two years of graduate school. Vlahoplus plans to enter law school after his graduation from Washington and Lee.

Source: W&L Gazette, July 1981

Andrew M. Wright – 1994 – Class of 1995 – graduated from the University of Virginia Law School and worked as an aide to Vice-President Al Gore and as a campaign aide during the 2000 election. He is currently an attorney in Washington, D.C.

1997 Molly Giese

1998-99 Shannon Bell

2000-01 Stacy McLoughlin

Andrew Fotinos, a junior politics major at Washington and Lee, has been awarded a scholarship from the Morris K. Udall Foundation. The Udall Foundation awards scholarships of up to $5000 annually in fields related to the environment. Fotinos is undertaking course work necessary to complete Washington and Lee’s Environmental Studies Program, an interdisciplinary effort which includes classes from the science, social science, and humanities departments. Beyond his studies, Fotinos has distinguished himself as a student leader. He has been selected to be a residence hall advisor for the 2003-2004 term, and is also manager of the Outing Club House – an energy saving, sustainable living initiative with close ties to the University’s environmental program. He is also a member of W&L’s cross country team and recipient of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) All-Conference Academic Award.

Fotinos spent the summer previous to his junior year as an intern at the Nature Conservatory in the Targhee National Forest in Idaho, where he worked to educate local about conservation easements with the goal of reducing development, and the fragmentation of wildlife habitat in the area. Upon his graduation, Fotinos plans to pursue a degree in public policy leading to a career in local government where he hopes to advance sound and sustainable land resource policy.

Established by Congress in 1992 to honor the late Congressman Morris K. Udall and his legacy of public service, The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation provides opportunities for students interested in environmental policy. Eighty rising juniors and sophomores were named Udall Scholars in a highly competitive national selection process. They were chosen on the basis of academic merit and their demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in environmental policy.

Source: Washington and Lee Press Release, May 5, 2003.

Kate Giese is the first Washington and Lee student to be named a Morris K. Udall Scholar. A rising senior majoring in Politics, Giese plans to obtain a graduate degree in environmental policy and pursue a career in that field. She has studied abroad in Venezuela for a semester, interned with the Henry Ford Foundation in southeast Idaho, and worked this past summer as a Robert E. Lee Research Scholar at Washington and Lee.

Source: The Environmental Studies Newsletter of Washington and Lee University, September 1997

Andrea Flak, who will graduate from Washington and Lee in June 2003 which a dual journalism and theater major, was among the sixty students selected from hundreds of applicants to receive the prestigious Watson Fellowship. The award carries a $22,000 stipend, which Flak plans to use to examine forced displacement from their native countries because of famine, floods, and disease or for their beliefs, politics, or race. "My project design will portray the multi-faceted nature of a migrant’s journey. Each of my stories will be about globalization and economic liberalization as much as it will be about individuals fighting for their dignity and trying to live better in an intercultural setting."

Flak’s journey will begin in Croatia and Yugoslavia, where she will mingle among the estimated 280,000 Croatian Serbs who remain in exile since the Balkan wars. From there she will spend three months in Africa. In Tanzania, which once welcomed refugees, Flak will study the impact of mounting intensity and pressure on limited natural resources in the politically charged atmosphere which precludes political integration for the nation’s 700,000 refuge inhabitants. Flak will also travel to Kenya to visit refugee camps in the semi-arid areas which barely sustain local nomadic populations. Afterwards, in Sri Lanka, Flak will study the separatist Liberation of Tigers movement and its effects on population movements in the country. In Australia, Flak will observe "first-world" perspectives, in a country which has been harshly criticized for its strict asylum policies. Her trip will end in Mexico, the transition point for those fleeing Central and Latin America in an effort to reach the United States.

The idea for Flak’s project, "Story of Forced Displacement: Images and Narratives from a Migrant’s Life," developed through her work with W&L’s Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty. As a shepherd student, Flak volunteered one summer with the Amigos de las Americas in rural Bolivia, where she lived with out electricity or running water. Her photographs from that summer inspired her to tell the stories of the people who were portrayed. She received a W&L journalism grant to finance an independent summer project in Bolivia.

It was the culmination of these experiences—marked by her founding of a new Shepherd outlet in Bolivia and her launching of a new W&L student group on international learning, which led Flak to seek the Watson Fellowship. But her need to comprehend different cultures was born in her childhood. Flak was 11 when her family left Poland, where her father, a mechanic, was diagnosed with cancer, but could not get the medical care he needed. Upon the family’s arrival in Germany, Flak describes how they "had become part of those rejected in their native land because we had left and (had) entered the group of those resisted in the host country after coming in." Although her father died during Flak’s first year in Germany, the family’s financial circumstances prevented them from returning to Poland. Flak struggled to learn the language and find a place, and was chosen several years later to be an "ambassador" of Germany to the United States. In Baltimore, she had to struggle with her identity as ‘the German girl.’ "Migration is a story I know quite well. Yet I am not asking to relive my own past…I want to experience migration when it happens by force and bring back images that capture a glimpse of that endeavor."

Source: Washington and Lee University website, March 25, 2003.

2003 – Thomas Grove is a German and Russian double major from Altoona, Pa. His project, "Tracing the Silken Lute" will take him to Turkey and China.

2003 – Matthew Petrusek of Summerville, Ore. is a Medieval and Renaissance studies and politics double major from Washington and Lee. He plans to use his Watson Fellowship award to study world poverty. His project, "Listening Closely: Comparing Descriptions of Poverty throughout the World," will take him to Norway, Tanzania, India, and Argentina.

Source: W&L Passport, Spring 2002

Scott Cameron '01, a business administration graduate from Windsor, California, will travel the world next year under the auspices of the Watson Fellowship Program, which has awarded him approximately $22,000 to study the cultural aspects of education in such far-flung regions as England, South Africa, Australia and Argentina.

Cameron has entitled his proposed project "Educational Exploration: The Cultural Elements of Learning and Teaching." He intends to observe classroom environments in all the different countries he visits, interviewing teachers, students and administrators to gain perspective on their practices and philosophies. He hopes that much of what he learns can be applied in the United States. Cameron notes that test scores of American children are often lower than those of their international counterparts.

"I hope to leave this fellowship with an all-around better way of educating children," he said. "Who's to say our country does it right?" He views the Watson as an incredible opportunity.

Cameron always has had teaching in the back of his mind, as he enjoys working with children. However, his plans were not cemented until he helped his older brother, who dropped out of high school, study for and pass his GED two years ago. "My experience with my brother's triumph made me feel really good about my brother, myself and the prospect of teaching," he said.

Cameron hopes to integrate his business experience with teaching. When he realized that his passion for teaching would have to be realized, he maintained his business administration major at W&L, while simultaneously taking required classes at Mary Baldwin College that eventually will allow him to receive a teaching certificate. Cameron's ultimate goal is to start his own private school, where he can act both as teacher and administrator.

Cameron maintained a 3.5 GPA while participating in diverse activities. He was one-time vice president of PRIDE (Programming for the Respect of Individuals and Diversity in Education), a cast member in numerous University theater productions and a volunteer at a local elementary school.

As he packs his bags for an August departure, he says he anticipates the most challenging aspect of the coming year will be adapting to different cultures. However, he plans to study the customs and histories of the countries he will visit before he leaves. He wants to be regarded not as "an ignorant American," but to be "accepted and respected as a professional and trust-worthy person."

Source: The Columns Newsletter, Summer 2001

In his four years at Washington and Lee, senior wrestler Josh Chamberlain '01 has proven that success in the classroom and in the arena may be difficult, but not impossible. Chamberlain has been awarded the Watson Fellowship, which will allow him to further his studies with independent research in Tuva, Saamiland, Rajasthan, Morocco and Ireland. The thesis for his project is "Instrument of the Soul: Singing My Way Through the World." "It is a once in a life-time opportunity," said Chamberlain.

His first loves are music and travel, and the Watson will combine both. While at W&L he was the star of the musical Candide and member of Southern Comfort a capella singing group. He is fluent in Spanish and Chinese; his other study abroad experiences include Spain, Costa Rica, Beijing and Taiwan.

He was also a four-year letter winner and two-time team captain for the W&L wrestling squad. Chamberlain finished with a 62-44 career record at the 149-pound weight class. He also had a 3.88 cumulative GPA as a philosophy major. The Richmond native is a three-time National Wrestling Coaches Association of America Scholar All-American and a four-time W&L Scholar Athlete.

"I am very thankful for my experiences at W&L," he added.

Source: The Columns Newsletter, Summer 2001

Roshni Narody, a Spanish and East Asian Studies major, was the first Washington and Lee student to be nominated and to win the Thomas J. Watson fellowship. During her fellowship, Narody plans to visit Mexico, Ireland, Hungary and Japan to study nomads. Her project is entitled, "Taming the Wanderer: Reform, Development, and the Fate of Nomadism."
  Narody said her interest in nomads stems from her heritage. "My father would make up bedtime stories about the nomads," she said. Narody does not know exactly where the tribes will be located. She does, however, have an idea of what her trip will be like. "In a lot of places, I’ll be kind of winging it," she said.
  Narody plans to start in Mexico on Aug. 1 and spend 4 1/2 months there. She said her main concerns there would be poisonous snakes and not getting lost while she is in the Mexican desert. After Mexico, Narody will go to Spain to study the gypsies. She will be there for two months and then will go to Ireland for one and a half months. Narody will again study gypsies in Hungary. She will be there for two months. Finally, she will go to Japan to study the Ainus, who are hunters and gathers.
  Narody wants to take pictures of the customs and rituals of the tribes to preserve the tribes’ heritages. "Most of the tribes won’t exist 50 to 100 years from now," she said.
 
Source: The Trident, April 26, 2000

IREX

Professional and academic training for U.S. young leaders in Russia

Cooke

Graduate Study in any field for students of exceptional promise

Javits

Graduate school support for work in the arts, humanities, or social sciences in studies not leading to professional practice

Madison

Graduate school support for students interested in secondary teaching of American history and government

Winner - Elizabeth Wiley (1997)

Marshall

Two or three years of study at a British university

Finalist - Anne Hazlett (2001)

Mitchell

One year of study at a university in Ireland

Finalist - Dan Birdwhistell (2001)

Pickering

Covers junior, and senior year of tuition plus graduate studies and summer programs and internships for studies in foreign affairs

Ransome

One year of study at St. Andrew's University in Scotland

Winner - Brook Hartzell (2000)

Rieser

$2,500 -$5,000 for students studying science and public policy

St. Andrew’s

$2,500 for U.S. residents of Scottish decent to study in Scotland

Soros

Graduate or professional school support for new Americans