Southern California women among Rhodes Scholars
The Sacramento BeeLos Angeles, CA
Two women from California were selected as Rhodes Scholars, an award that earns them scholarships to study at Oxford University.
San Diego native Stephanie Bryson and Stephanie Lin, of Irvine, are among an international group of scholars selected from 14 other jurisdictions around the world. The awards, announced early Sunday, provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the prestigious university in England.
Bryson was valedictorian of her 2011 graduating class at California State University, Long Beach. She is the first alum of the school to be chosen for the program, which has seen notable figures such as former president Bill Clinton and Supreme Court Justice David Souter pass through its ranks.
Bryson is pursuing a graduate degree in German and European Studies at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. She also spent a year at Humboldt University in Berlin and interned at the United States mission to the European Union in Brussels. Her plan is to study politics at Oxford.
Lin is studying biology and applied international studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is a senior. She is active with the MIT Global Poverty Initiatives and is editor-in-chief of the school's only journal of arts and letters. Her studies have included biochemical research relating to lung cancer, Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma virus. She plans to study medical anthropology and global health science at Oxford.
Thirty-two Americans were chosen for the program, including four current and former students from Stanford University.
Ishan Nath, of Atlanta, is a Stanford senior pursuing degrees in economics and earth systems, and a minor in mathematics. His studies at Oxford will include economics.
Houston native Anand Habib received a degree in biology from Stanford earlier this year. He is on a global health fellowship in Haiti where he is working in a variety of community health programs. At Oxford, Anand will pursue a degree in public policy and medical anthropology.
Aysha N. Bagchi, of Austin, graduated from Stanford in June with degrees in philosophy and history. She is now at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Bagchi will study politics Oxford.