Hillsborough Local Chosen As Rhodes Scholar

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Jasmine Brown of Hillsborough is among 32 selected students across the United States chosen as Rhodes Scholars. Brown is one of three New Jersey residents who received the honor.

Christopher D'Urso of Colts Neck and Jordan Thomas, a Princeton University student and South Plainfield resident, were also selected.

The 32 scholars were chosen from a pool of 866 candidates endorsed by their colleges or universities and the scholars will begin courses at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2018. The Americans will join an international group of scholars chosen from 64 different countries.

Applicants are selected on the basis of academic excellence, but that is only described as a threshold condition. Scholars should also have "great personal energy, ambition for impact and should be committed to make a difference in the world" among other things.

Brown is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, where she majors in Biology, with a focus in Neuroscience.

She has also done cancer research at the Broad Institute, pulmonary research at Johns Hopkins and studied behavioral science at the University of Miami.

She also continues extensive research to identify protective genes against cognitive defects following West Nile induced encephalitis while at Washington University.

She founded and serves as president of the Minority Association of Rising Scientists, which works to provide minority students in STEM research resources. Additionally, she has tutored high school students and danced in a theater production.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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