UW senior among 32 American students to study at Oxford The Associated Press SEATTLE -- An 18-year-old University of Washington senior is among the 32 college students selected Sunday as Rhodes Scholars for 2006. The scholars 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. Students were chosen from 903 applicants endorsed by 333 colleges and universities across the country. Among the winners was Eliana Hechter of Seattle, a senior at UW majoring in mathematics who entered the school at age 15. "I'm absolutely thrilled. I'm stunned to tell you the truth," Hechter said Sunday, describing the intense interview process for the scholarship. A Goldwater Scholar, she is also a creative writer, long-distance runner and enjoys playing ultimate Frisbee and cooking. She plans to do a D.Phil. in Mathematics at Oxford. Hechter began researching the neurobiological basis of behavior in marine fauna in 2001 and in 2003 received an undergraduate research grant through the Vertical Integration of Research and Education in the Mathematical Sciences project. Oxford is not entirely new for Hechter. Her father, Michael Hechter of Phoenix was a university lecturer of sociology and fellow at New College at Oxford from 1994 to 1996. "They're excited for me," she said of her parents who recently moved to Arizona. Hechter is now working as a research assistant at the Center for Cell Dynamics and is a teaching assistant for advanced calculus. She has also taught a math enrichment class at TOPS, (The Option Program at Seward), a kindergarten through 8th grade alternative school in the Seattle Public School District. Eventually, she wants to become a math professor, and hopes her Oxford experience will help her foster change in how math is taught in the classroom. "I think right now math is inaccessible," she said, adding that she believes "the more interesting parts of math," which she didn't learn until college, could be introduced at the elementary level. Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of 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 around the world. Approximately 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 per year. On the Net: http://www.rhodesscholar.org
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