NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Vanderbilt student has won a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study in England.
John Jumper hopes for placement at the University of Cambridge, where he would use the scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics. The senior in the College of Arts and Sciences has already taken enough of the graduate curriculum in physics to graduate with a master‘s degree.
The Marshall Scholarships, established by an Act of Parliament in 1953, finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. The program was started to build on the successful Rhodes Scholarships established privately a half-century earlier and is designed to strengthen relations between the British and American peoples.
Jumper, from Little Rock, Ark., “is a brilliant thinker who undoubtedly will influence the field of physics,” wrote the Office of Honor Scholarships Evaluation Committee in recommending Jumper for the Marshall Scholarship. “His transcript is probably unmatched in Vanderbilt University history – almost perfect marks in some of the most challenging courses on campus taught by some of the most intimidating faculty. … His background is much more extensive than that of most U.S. science students, easily enabling him to handle the rigorous research curriculum of a Cambridge Ph.D.”
About 40 Marshall Scholarships are granted each year.
For more information, go to the Marshall Scholarships website at http://www.marshallscholarship.org/. For news and happenings at Vanderbilt University, visit the Vanderbilt News Service website at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu