Two Alumni Named Rhodes Scholar

R. Jisung Park '04 and Abby Seldin '05 to study at Oxford

November 24, 2008 - Two Phillips Academy graduates have been selected as Rhodes Scholars. R. Jisung Park '04 and Abigail Seldin '05 are among 32 national recipients who earned the renowned annual scholarships late Saturday evening after two grueling days of interviews.

Upon hearing news of their awards, both Park, a senior at Columbia University, and Seldin, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, credited Andover for guiding their academic careers. “Of all the essential things I learned at Andover, no lesson has been more important than non sibi [not for self],” said Seldin. “The emphasis on public service at Andover led me to my work with the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania at the Penn Museum. I am indebted to Andover and the R.S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology.”

Park attributed his inspiration to Carroll Perry, a PA instructor in history and social science. “He made economics riveting by showing how it was directly applicable to everything in our lives,” Park told the Connecticut Post in an article published following the announcement of the scholarships. “All of our classes would start off with some anecdote and then he would apply that to an economic theory. That completely hooked me on economics, more so than a series of charts and graphs ever could.”

“We are thrilled for Jisung,” said Perry. “Even in high school, he knew this was a complex world and he would work to unearth these complexities. He came to us with such openness and curiosity. Upon graduation, he was awarded the department's highest prize in economics. I guess the Rhodes committee thinks he's pretty special too.”

Park, who is pursuing a double major in economics and political science, has already done research in tropical rainforest studies and sustainable development. He plans to continue his research in the environment and environmental policy when he arrives at The University of Oxford in England.

Head of School Barbara Landis Chase, who wrote Seldin's recommendation for the Rhodes Scholarship, said “Abby is one of our finest, both intellectually and in terms of her character. It is rare to find so brilliant a human being with as much sensitivity to her fellow students. She is, in short, a talented, humane and natural leader.”

Majoring in anthropology at UPenn, Seldin became the first undergraduate to curate an exhibit at the Penn Museum, a major collaboration on the Lanape Tribe that was based in part on her original ethnographic research.

The Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, a British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. More than 1,500 students from across the globe compete for the scholarships each year with roughly 80 per year awarded. The scholarships allow students to continue their studies at The University of Oxford in England for two to three years. Seldin and Park will begin their studies at Oxford in October 2009.