The doors of British higher education will soon open for four Penn students, thanks to the Thouron Award and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
The award recipients were announced in the first week of February, but the names of the recipients were made public after their acceptance to the universities of their choice.
Each year, the award pays tuition and living expenses for three to five Penn students to attend a university of their choosing in England for one or two years, while allowing an equal number of British students to take advantage of Penn's assets for the same period of time.
"This is the most arduous of the competitions," CURF Director Art Casciato said, referring to the rigorous selection process involved. But "we feel especially lucky to have the Thouron as an arrow in our quiver. It is one more chance to excel."
This year's recipients are College seniors Meredith Gamer and Marcellus Randall, and graduate students David Levin and Blake McShane.
The award does not give preference to any particular field of study and is open to all Penn students as long as they have received their bachelor's degree. While doctoral candidates are rare, master's students are often selected.
"There is no longer an age limit," said University Associate Provost and Wharton professor Janice Bellace, a former Thouron recipient. "The selection committee considers what the award would do for a person. The older you get, the less it seems it would change your life."
About 60 students applied for the scholarship through CURF, which gave the candidates "the necessary information to pursue the award," said Randall, who was accepted in the Pharmacology Department of Oxford University.
A committee made up of University faculty chooses a final group of 18 candidates on the basis of academic and intellectual achievements, as well as from a five-minute presentation and a separate application to two British universities.
The finalists were then invited to a full day of intermingling among themselves, past Thouron recipients and the award's executive committee. The goal of this section of the evaluation process was to consider candidates on the basis of their social skills as well.
"Unlike all other scholarships at Penn, the Thouron wants to get to know the character [of the students] -- it's putting its money on it," Casciato said. "The award committee does the best job at finding out who best will represent the United States in the U.K."
The purpose of the award -- as established by Sir John and Lady Thouron in the 1950s -- is to allow candidates from the United States and Britain to experience each other's culture and lifestyle, thus learning to appreciate the existing similarities and differences while contributing to the collaboration between the two.
"Because the founders wanted the fellows to learn about each other's culture, they wanted them to travel," Bellace said. "Expenses are covered by a stipend beginning from July 1."
The University was selected by Thouron because of his connections with the New Bolton Center of Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine.
Fostering these new ties with Penn, then-University President Gaylord Harnwell encouraged the couple to institute a scholarship that would crown Thouron's vision.
Gamer, who will be studying art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, said she is excited about the award.
"It is a nice way to get fundings for one or two years," she said, adding that the Thouron Award was "more of a community than just money to travel."
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