11/20/2005

Associated Press

Four North Carolina college students — three of whom attend Duke University — were chosen Sunday as prestigious Rhodes Scholars for 2006.

They are among 32 recipients selected from 903 applicants across the nation.

William L. Hwang and Rahul Satija, both of Potomac, Md., and Adam D. Chandler, of Burlington, attend Duke. Lakshmi Krishnan, of Sugar Land, Texas, attends Wake Forest.

The scholars, endorsed by 333 colleges and universities, will enter Oxford University in England next October. The scholarships, the oldest of the international study awards available to American students, provide two or three years of study at Oxford.

Hwang is a triple major in biomedical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and physics. His only grade below an A-plus at Duke has been an A.

In 2003, he founded United InnoWorks Academy, Inc., a non-profit organization that develops creative science and engineering programs for young people from underprivileged backgrounds.

Hwang, winner of Goldwater and National Science Foundation awards, is also a member of Duke's national championship volleyball squad.

At Oxford, he plans to pursue a doctorate in biological physics.

Satija, a senior majoring in biology and music, has been doing research in bioinformatics, and is now focused on the sea urchin genome and smallpox virus. He's been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for his scientific work.

Satija is also concertmaster for the Duke Symphony Orchestra and first violinist of a student string quartet, and holds Duke's only music performance scholarship. His musical background includes teaching violin to inner-city kids in Durham.

At Oxford, he plans to pursue a doctorate in bioinformatics.

Chandler, a senior math major, has carried out numerous research projects in applied computational mathematics, including work on computational quantum chemistry, molecular evolution, and traffic modeling.

A Goldwater and Byrd Scholar, Chandler is managing editor for the Journal of Young Investigators. He is also an accomplished cellist and president of the Duke Symphony Orchestra.

Chandler has served as research intern at the National Security Agency, where he focused on problems in cryptography. He has volunteered in an orphanage in Tanzania.

Chandler plans to study applied and computational mathematics at Oxford.

Krishnan, a Wake Forest Carswell Scholar who's majoring in English and German, is writing her senior thesis on vampires and blood contagion in 19th-century literature. She plans to major in English at Oxford.

She's also president of Wake Forest's chapter of Amnesty International, and has focused on global AIDS and the human rights issues associated with it.

Krishnan has organized campus events addressing AIDS, the death penalty and domestic violence. She worked as an intern with the nonprofit organization Physicians for Human Rights.

"I would love to work as a physician studying medical issues in the developing world," Krishnan said in a news release.

She is the editor of the Philomathesian Arts and Sciences Journal at Wake Forest.

Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected based on high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.

The American students will join an international group of scholars selected from 13 other nations. About 85 scholars are selected each year.

With the elections announced Sunday, 3,078 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, representing 307 colleges and universities.

The value of the Rhodes Scholarship varies depending on the field of study. The total value averages about $40,000 a year.

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On the Net:

http://www.rhodesscholar.org