Humanities Student Spotlight:

French and Physics Major Named Rhodes Scholar

Ohio State is proud to announce that Jessica Hanzlik, a senior majoring in French and physics, has been named a 2008 Rhodes Scholar. The Rhodes Scholarship, which funds two years of graduate study at the University of Oxford (England), is awarded to 32 U.S. students each year who demonstrate superior academic ability, leadership, and the potential to make an effective and positive contribution throughout the world.

The Pickering, Ohio native is the first Ohio State student to win the award since 1986, when Buckeye football standout and Humanities alumnus Michael Lanese (B.A. English), went to Oxford to pursue studies in philosophy, politics, and economics.

Hanzlik has conducted high-energy physics research with mathematical and physical sciences Professors Richard Hughes and Brian Winer, and is currently writing a senior honors thesis under the direction of Professor Jennifer Willging in the Department of French and Italian where she is exploring the educational paths of and cultural attitudes towards women scientists in France. An advocate of gender equity in the sciences, Hanzlik has founded two student organizations, Women in Physics and Women in Math and Science (WIMS), to encourage young women to explore science-related careers. She plans to pursue her doctorate in Physics at Oxford and join the faculty at a research institution.

The Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest and best known award for international study, were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those elected today will enter Oxford in October 2008. As a 2008 scholarship award winner, Hanlik joins an elite group of world-renowned Rhodes Scholars that includes former U.S. president Bill Clinton and former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren.

More information on the Rhodes Scholarship may be found on the Rhodes' Web site.