Wheaton joins elite group of four

Wheaton students won both the Marshall and Rhodes scholarships last month, making the college one of the few in the country to win both prestigious scholarships in the same year. Miles Sweet '01 of Fairfield, ME won the Rhodes, while Rebecca Chamberlain '99 of Charlevoix, Mich. won the Marshall.

Four private colleges in the U.S. received both awards for 2001: Brown, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Wheaton. Harvard, which claimed several Marshall Scholars this year and which holds the record for the most Rhodes Scholars from one university, did not have a Rhodes Scholar this year.

Sweet, a chemistry major at Wheaton, was named a Rhodes Scholar in early December. A first-generation college student, Sweet was one of five New Englanders to win the award. The winners were selected by eight regional committees from among 950 applicants who were endorsed by 327 colleges and universities throughout the nation.

A graduate of the Maine High School of Science and Mathematics, Sweet researched the design of hybrid organic-inorganic materials at the Universitie Piere et Marie Curie in Paris, France, this summer with funding from the National Science Foundation and Wheaton's Davis International Fellows program. Sweet is interested in connections between the world of science and policy, and plans to read for a doctor of philosophy in organic biological chemistry at Oxford University.

Chamberlain received the news of her award at 2 a.m. local time in Croatia, where she is completing a one-year master's program degree in theology as a Rotary International Scholar. Chamberlain is one of only 40 students from U.S. universities and colleges chosen for the award this year. As a Marshall Scholar, Chamberlain plans to read for a two-year master's degree at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at the University College in London.