Wheaton scholars win eight national awards

In the 2000-2001 academic year, Wheaton students and recent graduates won eight prestigious national awards: a Rhodes, British Marshall, Truman, Udall and four Fulbright scholarships.

Rhodes Scholar The first in his family to attend college, chemistry major Miles Sweet '01 of Fairfield, Maine, also is the first Wheaton student to be named a Rhodes Scholar, one of 31 recipients of the prestigious award in the nation this year. A graduate of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone, Sweet researched the design of hybrid organic-inorganic materials at the Universitie Piere et Marie Curie in Paris, France, last summer with funding from the National Science Foundation and Wheaton's Davis International Fellows program.
As a Rhodes Scholar, Sweet will attend Oxford University in Oxford, England, next fall, study organic biological chemistry, and read for a doctor of philosophy degree in chemistry.

British Marshall Scholar Rebecca Chamberlain '99, a resident of Charlevoix, Mich., was became the first Wheaton student to win the prestigious award.

Chamberlain wrote her Wheaton honors thesis on the impact of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder on women raped during the Bosnian and Croatian wars. As a Wheaton Davis Fellow, she researched her subject in Zagreb, Croatia, at the Center for Women War Victims.
Funded by her scholarship. Chamberlain plans to read for a master's degree at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at the University College London.

Truman Scholar Wheaton junior Fred Marcks '02 , a political science major, is one of 70 college students in the nation to win the Truman Scholarship in public service, a $30,000 grant for attending graduate or professional school in preparation for careers in public service.

Marcks is also the first recipient of Wheaton's Christine Todd Whitman '68 Fellowship in Public Service. He began his fellowship last summer in the New Jersey governor's office and will work with Whitman this summer at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C.

A town meeting representative in his hometown of Chelmsford, Mass., Marcks was, at the time of his election, the youngest elected official in the state. He also is president of the Student Government Association at Wheaton.

Fulbright Scholars
Andrea Christoforou '01, a pre-med and mathematics major, will study bioinformatics next year with support from Great Britain Fulbright scholarship. Only 17 students are selected nationally for this award.

A resident of Lynn, Mass., Christoforou will travel to England to earn a master's degree in bioinformatics, an area of pharmaceutical research that focuses on the drug discovery process, aiming to accelerate the rate at which new drugs are discovered and to decrease their costs. Upon her return to the U.S., Christoforou plans to pursue a doctorate in bioinformatics.

A scholar-athlete, Christoforou is a top-ranked goalie on Wheaton's lacrosse team.

Arnulfo De La Cruz '00, a dual major in international relations and Hispanic studies won a Fulbright Bi-national Business Grant. De La Cruz will use his Fulbright award to study at Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology, while working at Cemex, a multinational cement corporation. Only 10 students are selected each year for Fulbright-funded Bi-national Business Grants for Mexico.

A resident of Milton, Mass., De La Cruz plans to study comparative law, economics and international trade at the Mexican university. De La Cruz currently works as a paralegal at a downtown Boston law firm. Upon his return from Mexico, he plans to enroll in a dual degree law program that awards a JD and a master's in international law. De La Cruz is a Mexican-American who aspires to trim the huge income disparities among Latin American countries.

Susan Habas '01, a biochemistry major, will conduct chemistry research with funding from a New Zealand Fulbright scholarship. Only 10 students are selected each year for Fulbright-funded study in New Zealand.

A resident of Ogunquit, Maine, Habas goes to New Zealand to research the synthesis of porphyrin, or chlorophyll, aiming to understand the ways that nature captures and uses light. Results of this research have practical applications in cancer therapy and the development of an alternative source of energy. When her nine-month Fulbright is completed, Habas plans to complete a doctorate in the study of porphyrins.

Laura Steele '01, a dual major in French and psychology, will teach English in France next year through a French Government Teaching Assistantship from the Fulbright program. Only 35 students are selected nationally for this award.

The resident of Kennebunkport, Maine, served as a teaching assistant while studying in Paris, France, in 2000. She was also a recipient of Wheaton's Davis International Fellowship, providing funding for a summer of teaching English in Mexico in 1999.

Udall Scholar David Giuliania '03 won a Morris K. Udall scholarship to support his undergraduate studies in environmental science. After his graduation from Wheaton, Giuliani plans to study environmental law.

A resident of Montpelier, Vt., Giuliani in interested in water-quality issues and forest conservation. At Wheaton, he is a biology major, an environmental science minor and a member of Wheaton's vernal pool water research team. The research, funded by the Shouse Foundation through Wheaton's Filene Center for Work and Learning, focuses on cataloguing small invertebrates living in vernal pools. This summer, Giuliania will conduct trout biology research in Nevada. Next fall, he will study natural resource management at Australia's University of Melbourne.