Harvard University Gazette December 4-10, 2008 - Harvard News ...

December 4-10, 2008 Harvard University Gazette/ 3
By Colleen Walsh
Harvard News Office
Four Harvard undergraduates have received
the prestigious Marshall Scholarships,
academic grants that will allow them
to study abroad for two years.
Sponsored by the British government,
the scholarships offer exceptional students
from the United States the opportunity for
graduate-level study at any university in
the United Kingdom in a field of their
choosing. In addition to its academic component,
the program “helps scholars gain
an understanding and appreciation of contemporary
Britain.”
“A gift from one people to another, the
Marshall Scholarship program is a public
recognition of some of the brightest and
most promising young people graduating
Prestigious scholarship confers
two years of study in the United Kingdom
Photos Justin Ide/Harvard News Office
Emma Wu plans to attend either University College London or the University of Edinburgh to study
psychological research methods and cognitive neuropsychology.
Four undergrads garner Marshalls
Kyle Mahowald, who hopes to attend Oxford
University, will study the history and structure
of English.
from America’s colleges and universities,”
said Harvard’s Director of Fellowships
Paul Bohlmann. “The gift is two years of access
to the best academic programs in the
United Kingdom, all in the hope that recipients
will be better able to achieve their
promise of leadership for having studied
and lived there.”
Mahowald to study history of English
The opportunity to study abroad will
help one Harvard wordsmith develop both a
more nuanced and more scientific approach
to understanding English. Senior
Kyle Mahowald already knows
how to play with the language; literally,
he is an accomplished cruciverbalist,
or a crossword puzzle creator. At 17,
he was the youngest person ever to
have a crossword puzzle published in
The New York Times.
Mahowald calls crosswords “playgrounds
for language” and says his
love of words is “hardwired.”
An English concentrator, last summer
he used a Harvard College Research
Fellowship to study Middle
English literature, Chaucer, the theory
of the gift, and deconstruction. His
senior thesis will examine the origins,
literary evolution, and cultural significance
of Shakespeare’s Queen Mab.
The Winthrop House resident,
who hopes to attend Oxford University,
will use his scholarship to study the
history and structure of English as
well as the more scientific context of
linguistic principles. After the program,
he said, he hopes to apply a linguistic
methodology to literary studies,
and will likely pursue a career in
academics.
“In England, English and linguistic
studies are a little more interrelated
and I am hoping to [be exposed to] that type
of approach.”
Wu’s focus is cognitive neuropsychology
Senior Emma Wu ignored the first call
that registered on her phone as “unknown.”
The second time, she answered it and was
rewarded with an interview for the scholarship.
After that, she was on the lookout.
“I have been waiting for the ‘unknown’
on my phone. When I saw it I thought, this
is either good news or bad news, and [the
representative’s] first words were, ‘Hi
Emma, I have good news for you.’”
Like Mahowald, Wu thinks a lot about
language. Her interest in linguistics developed
from attending a summer program at
Harvard while in high school. Later, as an
undergraduate, she wanted to combine the
discipline with a more biological perspective.
The perfect solution came in the form
of Harvard’s Cognitive Neuropsychology
Lab, which uses language to explore the
brain. As a member of the lab, Wu is working
on her senior thesis, examining the
brain’s processing of action words, particularly
as it relates to patients with neurodegenerative
diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Wu plans to attend either University
College London or the University of Edinburgh
to study psychological research
methods and cognitive neuropsychology.
The Mather House resident said she
considers the scholarship a chance to complete
a type of mini-Ph.D.
“It will give me a solid foundation for
things that I want to pursue later as well as
a sampling of the different fields within
neuroscience so I can find out what I am really
passionate about.”
Following her two-year stint in Britain,
Wu intends to head to medical school where
she will focus on psychiatry or neuroscience.
Though the black belt in tae kwan
do admits it sounds like a cliché, Wu says,
“I’ve always been interested in trying to use
science to help people.”
Miller’s interest is in Chinese media
Andrew Miller’s path to Chinese media
studies began in his teenage years when he
volunteered on a number of political campaigns
and became fascinated with the role
and influence of the media in shaping not
only a candidate’s message, but also a national
identity. A course in Chinese and subsequent
trips to China cemented his interest
in the country and understanding its
media and its increasing global impact.
For the past several years he has exam-
(See Marshalls, next page)
Obama names Summers director
of National Economic Council
President-elect Barack Obama announced
Nov. 24 that he has selected
Lawrence H. Summers as the next director
of the National Economic Council. Summers
is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor
at Harvard and served as Harvard’s
27th president
from July 1, 2001,
until June 30,
2006.
Obama praised
File Justin Ide/HNO
Summers
NEWSMAKERS
Summers as “one
of the great economic
minds of our
time” in making the
announcement.
Summers will become
the new president’s
top economic
adviser when he takes office.
Summers is the former Nathaniel Ropes
Professor of Political Economy at Harvard,
and previously served in a series of senior
public policy positions, including secretary
of the Treasury of the United States.
For more information on Summers, see
www.president.harvard.edu/history/27_
summers/summers.html.
Honorary degree awarded to
Professor Wei-Ming Tu
Professor Wei-Ming Tu, Harvard Yenching
Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy
and of Confucian Studies at Harvard
University, will receive an honorary degree
from King’s College London in a ceremony
on Nov. 25. Tu, one of eight honorees
for outstanding academic or intellectual
contribution to their fields, has been
on the Harvard faculty since 1981 and is
widely recognized as a leading scholar in
Confucian studies.
Retsinas honored by the Affordable
Housing Hall of Fame
Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint
Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), was recently
inducted into
the Affordable Housing
Hall of Fame for
his outstanding
achievement in the
housing industry.
Retsinas, who is also
a lecturer at the Harvard
Business School,
was one of five inductees
recognized by
Retsinas the Hall at The 2008
Tax Credit Developers’
Summit held in Chicago in November.
Lu wins grand prize in the 2008
Collegiate Inventors Competition
Timothy Lu of the Harvard-MIT Division
of Health Sciences and Technology received
this year’s 2008 Collegiate Inventors
Competition $25,000 grand prize
from the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Foundation. Lu received the award at the
Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City in November
for his project that combats antibiotic-resistant
bacteria and bacterial
biofilms with engineered bacteriophage (a
virus that infects bacteria) and synthetic
gene sensors. The bacteriophage works
with antibiotics to make them much more
effective. As a result of his work, Lu’s project
may see broad use in applications including
as attacking superbugs, treating
diseases such as cystic fibrosis, and preventing
food contamination.
More Newsmakers, next page