December 6, 2000

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Contact: Barbara Schowen, KU honors program, (785) 864-4225, or Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853.

KU senior from McPherson advances in Rhodes

LAWRENCE -- A University of Kansas senior from McPherson has advanced to state competition for one of 32 Rhodes scholarships offered annually in the United States for graduate study in Great Britain.

Stephanie Jane Sprague, an aerospace engineering major, plans a career in jet propulsion research. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Sprague, 1320 N. Walnut, McPherson, and a graduate of McPherson High School.

Sprague will be interviewed with other Kansas nominees today by the Kansas Rhodes selection committee in KU's Alumni Center.

The committee will choose two finalists for regional competition Dec. 8 and 9. Final selection for the Rhodes scholarships will be made by district committees Dec. 9. Kansas nominees compete in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., against the nominees of seven other states.

KU students have won 23 Rhodes Scholarships. Sprague was one of four KU students or recent graduates nominated for a Rhodes scholarship this year.

Selection for the scholarships is highly competitive, and nominees must excel academically as well as demonstrate leadership in a variety of non-academic activities.

In the summer of her sophomore year, Sprague was one of about 40 students selected nationally to attend the NASA Academy. She was assigned to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. She was invited to return the next year as director and coordinator of NASA Academy students at Dryden.

Sprague has flown solo and is working on her pilot's license. For two summers, she has volunteered with a medical missionary team in Honduras.

Thirty-two Rhodes scholarships are awarded annually to U.S. students who are between ages 18 and 24 and demonstrate high academic achievement and leadership. Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and colonist, established the scholarships in 1903.

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