11/1/2004

Contact: Sue Lorenz, KU Honors Program, (785) 864-3374

KU to honor 7 nominees for Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell scholarships

LAWRENCE -- Seven University of Kansas nominees are competing for one of three prestigious graduate scholarships: the Rhodes or the Marshall scholarships in Great Britain or the Mitchell in Ireland.

Rhodes and Marshall scholarships provide more than $50,000 for two years of graduate study. Mitchell Scholarships provide an $11,000 stipend and cover the costs of tuition and board for one year of graduate study.

KU faculty and administrators will honor the nominees at a reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the Malott Room of the Kansas Union.

Four KU nominees are competing for two of the three scholarships. Six are competing for a Marshall Scholarship, four for a Rhodes and one for a Mitchell Scholarship.

Thirty-two Rhodes scholarships are awarded annually among eight regions of the United States; 40 Marshalls from eight regions throughout the United States; and at least 12 Mitchell scholarships throughout the United States.

KU students have won 24 Rhodes scholarships since 1904, more than all other Kansas colleges and universities combined, and nine Marshall scholarships since 1965. The George J. Mitchell Scholarships were established in 1998.

Rhodes Scholarships may be used only at Oxford University, Marshall Scholarships at any British university. Mitchell Scholarships may be used at the seven universities in the Republic of Ireland or the two in Northern Ireland.

The Rhodes Scholarship program has been offering scholarships since 1903. The first Marshall Scholarships were offered in 1953. The first Mitchell Scholarships were awarded in 2000.

KU's 2005 nominees and the scholarships they seek are:
-- Ruth Anne French, Partridge senior majoring in political science; Rhodes and Marshall
-- Jameson Reece Jones, December 2003 KU graduate in American studies and civil engineering from Wichita and Highland Village, Texas; Rhodes and Marshall
-- William Douglas Lamborn, Colorado Springs, Colo., senior majoring in film studies and business; Rhodes and Marshall
-- Lindsay Michelle Marion, Wildwood, Mo., senior in architectural engineering; Rhodes and Marshall
-- Sean Thomas Pauzauskie, Topeka senior in English and in cellular biology; Marshall
-- Lauren Marie Stewart, Wichita senior in English; Mitchell
-- Chris Wiles, May 2004 political science graduate from Leavenworth; Marshall

Five Marshall finalists will be interviewed Nov. 8 and 9 in Chicago for the 13-state region that includes Kansas, and a sixth will interview in Houston for the six-state region that includes Colorado. Winners will be announced in early December from Washington, D.C.

Rhodes semifinalists compete at the state level in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 16 and 17. Finalists will compete at the regional level in St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 19 and 20. Rhodes winners will be announced the evening of Nov. 20.

Mitchell finalists will be invited to interview with the selection committee in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 20. Winners will be announced the same day.
Named in honor of the former Maine senator's contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process, the Mitchell Scholarship is the initiative of the US-Ireland Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating Americans about Ireland. Students ages 18 to 30 who have shown academic distinction, commitment to service and potential for leadership are eligible to apply.

Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and colonist, established the Rhodes scholarships in 1902. U.S. students between ages 18 and 24 who have demonstrated high academic achievement and leadership are eligible to apply for a university nomination. The British Government founded the Marshall scholarships in 1953 to express gratitude for the Marshall Plan. Marshall scholarships have no age restrictions and are for recent graduates who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership qualities.

Biographical information on the nominees follows.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
From Leavenworth
Chris Wiles is attending Cambridge University in England, preparing for admission to a doctoral program in political theory with an emphasis on law. Wiles envisions eventually seeking public office to influence U.S. policy at home and abroad or becoming a university researcher in political theory, or both. Wiles completed his bachelor's degree in three years. After graduating in May with honors in political science, Wiles was an assistant to the U.S. Army director of anti-terrorism at Fort Leavenworth. As a junior at KU, Wiles was selected for the U.S. State Department Pickering Fellowship, a junior-officer training program. He also interned in the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Rep. Jim Ryan, R-Topeka. Wiles has worked year-round since high school to help support his education. At KU, he was a student senator. He is the son of Bailey and Patricia Wiles and is a graduate of Pleasant Ridge High School.

RENO COUNTY
From Partridge
Ruth Anne French plans to study administrative and regulatory law with an emphasis on the environment following her graduation in May 2005. The daughter of a fifth generation farm family in central Kansas, French plans a career as an advocate for protecting natural resources. At KU, French has worked as a research assistant with Donald Worster, Hall Family Foundation distinguished professor of history, to create a course on agriculture in world history. She worked with Sidney Shapiro, former KU law professor, to research her honors thesis examining the effects of the Data Quality Act on the regulatory processes of the Environmental Protection Agency. She has worked as an intern for Chief Justice Deanell Reece Tacha of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She won third in the 2004 Peterson Prize for Undergraduate Writing at Willamette University in Oregon. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha honor societies. She is the daughter of Jim and Lisa French. She is a graduate of Haven High School and has attended Hutchinson Community College.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Wichita and Highland Village, Texas
Jameson Reece Jones, a first-year law student at Stanford University, plans a career focused on shaping water resource policies nationally and internationally. Jones graduated KU with highest distinction in both degree programs. He completed an honors thesis: “Water, Scarcity and Engineering Responsibility: The Whirlpool of Perspectives,” that included a survey of residents of Scandia, his maternal grandparents' hometown, in north central Kansas. Last spring, he interned in U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts Washington, D.C., office and this summer he worked in the Kansas Water Office, performing engineering analyses of water policy initiatives - a job he describes as a perfect convergence of his interests in policy, engineering, cultural studies and law. At KU, his many service projects included working as coordinator for the Jubilee Café, a breakfast service for Lawrence homeless residents. Jones not only helped feed café patrons but also raised funds for the project. He is the son of Scott Jones and Mary Lou Reece who recently moved to Wichita from the Dallas area and the grandson of H.W. and Marynell Reece of Scandia. He is a graduate of Edward Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas.

From Wichita
Lauren Marie Stewart plans to a career teaching and researching the history of the development of the English language. She will pursue a master's degree in language and linguistics following her graduation in May 2005. At KU, she and another student write a column titled “Language Rules.” She won the 2004 Helen Rhodes Hoopes Award for critical writing. Active in Student Union Activities, Stewart is traditions coordinator and previously served as SUA board president and as SUA vice president for university relations. She is a graduate of the LeaderShape program at KU and serves as a student representative on the Kansas Union Memorial Corporation executive board. She is also a peer educator for the student housing department's “Leadership in America” project for first-year KU students. Stewart is a National Merit Scholar and is a member of both Phi Kappa Phi and Mortar Board honor societies. A violinist, she plays in the Instrumental Collegium Musicum and has been in the KU symphony orchestra. She is the daughter of Gregory and Helen Stewart and is a graduate of Wichita High School Southeast.

SHAWNEE COUNTY
From Topeka
Sean Thomas Pauzauskie will receive two bachelor's degrees in December and is on track to graduate with highest distinction. Pauzauskie is interested in neuroscience and neuropharmacy and plans a career as a researcher and a writer focusing on medical science policy. He plans to complete a doctorate in the history and science of medicine and possibly also pursue a medical degree. At KU he has worked in the developmental biology research lab of Victoria Corbin and was selected for the intern program at National Institutes of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md., where he worked with researchers on behavioral genetics. This past summer he interned on the U.S. House Sub-Committee on Energy, Commerce, Health and Oversight. He founded KidSci, an after-school science education program that recruits KU students to work with fifth and sixth graders in Lawrence schools. Pauzauskie won the 2003 Phillip Whitcomb Memorial Essay Contest on “American Privacy” and is an opinion columnist for the campus newspaper. He has also worked as a pianist for a local hotel. He is the son of Bill and Sally Pauzauskie and is a graduate of of Hayden High School.

COLORADO
From Colorado Springs
William Douglas Lamborn plans to graduate KU in May 2005 with dual degrees in film studies and business and is on track to graduate with highest distinction for both degree programs. In his application essay, Lamborn notes that the magic of film inspired his imagination as a youngster and his aspirations as a young adult. He envisions a career combining his interests in management and in creativity, possibly owning a film production company and working as a cinematographer or director. Lamborn is working as a production intern at a cable television company in Lawrence. As the Student Union Activities coordinator for concerts and comedy, Lamborn works with other SUA coordinators to manage SUA's $100,000 budget. Last year he served as SUA coordinator for fine arts events and pioneered fine arts projects for Kansas Union patrons. His many honors include a National Merit Scholarship and membership in Mortar Board, honor society. Lamborn's summer jobs include working as nanny for a family with three children and as an office assistant in KU's New Student Orientation office. He is the son of Doug and Jean Lamborn and is a graduate of Rampart High School in Colorado Springs.MISSOURI

From Wildwood
Lindsay Michelle Marion plans to graduate in May 2005 in architectural engineering and is on track to graduate with distinction. Marion seeks a career as a government policymaker, teacher or researcher that will combine her interests in the humanities and in architecture. She sees in architecture a potential for benefiting humanity. In her application essays, she notes, “No other field can simultaneously build houses for the poor, improve institutional environments for schoolchildren, help prevent urban decay, and create technologically assistive buildings for the elderly. She is founder and president of the KU Cultural Ambassadors, a program designed to link up international students at KU with classrooms in area schools. At KU, Marion won the 2002 Whitcomb Essay Contest Prize for “Schools of Children,” inspired in part by her personal study of 20 one-room schools in eastern Kansas. She has interned with an architectectal firm in St. Louis Her many awards include a National Merit Scholarship and a Freeman Foundation Kansas/Asia Scholarship. She is the daughter of Dan and Donna Marion and is a graduate of Eureka (Mo.) High School.