Westlake High grad named Rhodes Scholar after ranking at top of his class at Yale
Wendy LeungVentura County Star
A Westlake High School prom king who went on to graduate at the top of his class at Yale University has been named a 2013 Rhodes Scholar.
The prestigious scholarship will allow Benjamine Liu, 22, to get a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Oxford.
Liu, a fiercely loyal Lakers fan who plays viola, is already in England. He is studying for his master's degree in computational biology at the University of Cambridge and will start at Oxford next fall.
"Westlake High School is very proud that one of their own was recognized for being such an outstanding young man," said Liu's high school counselor, Martha Aggazzotti. "But it wasn't Westlake. It wasn't any of us. He would've done it on his own."
Liu was among the 212 applicants who made it to the final stage of the selection process, which included an in-depth interview. Thirty-two were chosen. Liu said he actually enjoyed the interview, which was a wide-ranging conversation that touched on topics of scientific philosophy and neurological development. Among the questions asked of Liu was, "How do you know when you know everything?"
