September 27, 2007
UW honors its Rhodes Scholars with exhibit
Last week the UW unveiled and dedicated a permanent exhibit honoring alumni who, as UW undergraduates, achieved prestigious recognition as Rhodes Scholars. Their accomplishments were recognized in remarks by President Mark Emmert, Undergraduate Academic Affairs Dean and Vice Provost Edward Taylor, and UW alum and Rhodes Scholar Bror Saxberg.
The exhibit, in the foyer at the north entrance of Mary Gates Hall, consists of photos and biographies of each UW Rhodes Scholar. As undergraduates continue to achieve this honor, they will be added to the exhibit.
“This exhibit,” says Taylor, “is a profound and lasting way to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding scholarship and accomplishments of undergraduates. We’re delighted that it will live in Mary Gates Hall, where the Undergraduate Scholarship Office is located as well as so many other programs that help our students achieve.”
The first American Rhodes Scholars were elected in 1904, including one — Joel Marcus Johanson — from the UW. Since then, 35 UW students have earned the honor, including the most recent, Eliana Hechter, who was elected in 2006.
Other prominent UW Rhodes scholars include Jack Haney, elected in 1962, who returned to the UW as a professor of Slavic languages and literature and remained until his retirement in 2002; William T. Kerr, Jr., elected in 1963, who was CEO of the $1 billion media giant Meredith Corporation; Bror Saxberg, elected in 1980, who went on to earn a doctorate from MIT and an MD from the Harvard Medical School and is currently the chief learning officer for K12, a company that helps students learn via digital tools; and Jean McCollister, elected in 1982 as the first female Rhodes Scholar from the UW (women were first permitted into competition in 1977) and is now a journalist, teacher of English, translator and author.
The Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest of international fellowships, were initiated after the death of philanthropist Cecil Rhodes in 1902. The Rhodes Scholarships are investments in individuals. Selection committees seek excellence in qualities of mind and in qualities of person, which, in combination, offer a promise of effective service to the world in the decades ahead. Scholars are elected for two years of study at the University of Oxford, with possible renewal for a third year.
