North Caldwell student named Rhodes Scholar
Associated PressNJ.com
Trenton, NJ
A northern New Jersey man is among 32 American students selected as the newest Rhodes Scholars.
The prestigious award won by Phillip Yao of North Caldwell provides him with a scholarship for study at Oxford University in England. The winners were selected from 838 applicants endorsed by 302 different colleges and universities.
"I was very shocked when I learned I had won," Yao, 21, told The Associated Press today, the day the winners' names were made public. "This whole experience has been very humbling."
Currently a senior at Harvard University, where he majors in physics and minors in philosophy, Yao said he has always been passionate about education and related matters.
A poet and pianist who has mentored students in New York City's "Prep for Prep" program, Yao also has worked in the New York City mayor's office on a new computer science curriculum. He also founded a virtual library for over a million students in Mumbai while on a summer fellowship.