Four tapped for Rhodes Scholarships
Two former and two current Stanford students will attend Oxford University next fall on the world’s oldest international fellowship.
Ginger Turner, class of 2005, and seniors Jacob Lemieux and Julie Veroff were selected on Nov. 18 as three of the 32 American Rhodes Scholars, joining 2004 graduate Nadiya Figueroa, the Jamaican Rhodes Scholar, at Oxford next year.
About 85 Rhodes Scholars are selected worldwide, and the 32 American Rhodes Scholars are each eligible for two to three years of study at Oxford. The scholarship covers educational fees, travel costs to and from England and a maintenance fund for necessary expenses — on average, an annual value of $45,000 per year.
GINGER TURNER
Since studying abroad through the Stanford in Oxford program, Turner, 23, has always considered returning to Oxford. After graduating from Stanford, she founded the first HIV/AIDS hotline in Kazakhstan and then joined the World Bank. At Oxford, Turner looks to pursue a master of philosophy degree in international relations, which she said she hopes will enrich her work in international development.
“From my work experience at the World Bank, I have seen that many policy decisions are based on complex political histories, rather than just technical analysis,” Turner said. “Since I studied economics and engineering at Stanford, I am looking forward to studying politics and in particular learning more about the UK policy perspective.”
Turner described the Rhodes application process as “valuable” because it helped her to define her ambitions.
“[The application process] gave me an excuse to talk to mentors about my future plans and get written feedback on my essays in a lot more intense and critical way than I would have otherwise,” she said.
While studying at Stanford, Turner danced for five years with the Cardinal Ballet, served as a Haas Public Service fellow in South Africa and as an Asia Technology Initiative fellow in India, completed the San Francisco Marathon and became the first American to swim from Robben Island to Cape Town, South Africa.
“Stanford has such a vibrant community, and I have benefited so much from the teachers and other students who continually inspire me,” Turner said.
JACOB LEMIEUX
Lemieux, 21, meanwhile, said that he plans to pursue a doctorate in biochemistry at Oxford to help him tackle global development and public health crises, after which he hopes to attend medical school in the United States.
“The ability to conduct scientific research aimed at finding new cures, treatments and preventive measures for diseases that affect developing countries is one of the most powerful tools we have to promote development,” Lemieux said. “At Oxford I hope to study the Malaria parasite, combining field work in East Africa with lab work in the UK.”
Lemieux described his Stanford experience as “wonderful” because he has been able to participate in cutting-edge research as an undergraduate as well as in several student organizations, including Stanford Association for International Development, the ski team and his fraternity.
Lemieux encouraged Stanford students who think they will apply for the Rhodes Scholarship to take advantage of the faculty and staff on campus.
“There are a huge number of resource centers on this campus that are staffed with incredibly talented and exciting people,” he said. “My advice to future applicants is to seek those people out.”
JULIE VEROFF
Veroff, 21, who developed a strong interest in women’s empowerment and Sub-Saharan Africa while working with non-governmental organizations in Nicaragua, Ghana, Zambia and the Bay Area, said she will study international development while pursing a master of philosophy degree at Oxford.
“There are not enough exclamatory and positive adjectives out there to describe how I feel about Stanford and the ways in which the Stanford experience has shaped me,” Veroff said. “I have met truly incredible people with whom I have learned, laughed, loved, struggled, stressed and grown. I really can’t believe I’m a senior, and while I’m looking forward to Oxford, this will be a very hard place to leave.”
More than a week after interviewing alongside other students and receiving the news of her selection as a Rhodes Scholar, Veroff said that it still feels “surreal.”
“The whole process was one of the most outstanding opportunities I have had to talk with driven, interesting, wonderful students, and I am so honored to have been given this tremendous opportunity,” she said.
After graduating at Oxford, Veroff said that she intends to work as a researcher, policy analyst and advocate with an international non-governmental organization on critical humanitarian and security issues related to development and women’s rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eventually she hopes to become “a policymaker in the U.S. government, where [she] will strive to promote gender equality as a primary component and objective of U.S. and multinational development policy.”
Veroff said that the best advice she received when applying for the scholarship was to be herself.
“The Rhodes as an award itself was not my dream or ambition,” she said. “Instead, it was the chance to have a challenging and exciting intellectual and personal adventure that would really push me to grow as an academic and as a person, and help me to achieve my long-term goals in development work.”
NADIYA FIGUEROA
Figueroa, 24, the Jamaican Rhodes Scholar, plans to pursue development studies at Oxford in a doctoral program that combines anthropology, history of political science and economics.
“Interestingly, after a year in the working world, observing how change does and does not happen in Jamaica, I determined that I wanted to more formally study different models of small economy development,” Figueroa said. “Specifically, I wanted to look at how the technical expertise and social and economic capital of the Jamaican Diaspora can be engaged for national development since this is one of our greatest untapped resources. About a month before the [Rhodes] application process it began to really come together in my mind, what I wanted to study and what the application could be to the Jamaican situation — this gave me the motivation to apply.”
Figueroa said that she felt incredibly honored to be selected. The night before the formal announcement, Figueroa had the opportunity to meet past Jamaican scholars, including literary figures, government leaders and social development champions.
“I knew it would be an honor to be a part of this grouping, so when I did learn that I was successful, I immediately felt as though I was a part of something larger than that moment,” she said.
Figueroa, a former ASSU president, said her experience on the Farm more than adequately prepared her for the selection process.
“Stanford offers an environment in which students have ample opportunity to pursue public service, community involvement and student advocacy and activism,” Figueroa said. “Throughout my Stanford experience, I developed a firm belief in the importance of service and contribution to your community, not necessarily from a selfless and altruistic perspective, but from the very pragmatic point of view that involvement in extracurricular activities that inspire and challenge you are critical to self development.”
