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Dec. 12, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University senior Raju Raval, a native of Fort Wayne, was named one of 32 Rhodes Scholars nationwide in an announcement by the Rhodes Scholarship Trust on Saturday (Dec. 9). Raval was the only student from the state of Indiana to be selected. About 1,000 students nationwide applied for the scholarships.
Rhodes scholarships provide two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England. The oldest of the international study awards available to American students, they were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and colonial pioneer.
Rhodes Scholars are chosen on the basis of high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership and physical vigor, according to the announcement. Rhodes wrote that Rhodes Scholars should "esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim."
Raval, 21, was valedictorian of his class at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne. At IU he is majoring in biochemistry, biology, Spanish and religious studies. He is also a Wells scholar and a Truman scholar with many research and departmental awards.
He is active in the Bloomington community, working with abused women and children. He is a co-founder of the IU Bloomington chapter of Circle K, the collegiate-level Kiwanis Club.
Raval said of his Rhodes Scholar award, "I don't look at it as an achievement. I look at it as an opportunity."
He plans to obtain a doctoral degree in molecular oncology at Oxford. Currently, he is assisting Professor Milton Taylor in the Department of Biology in researching the diagnostics and progression of breast cancer micrometastases. Raval wants to pursue a career in research on cancer and ultimately use his knowledge to work to influence health policy.
He has been interested in medicine and science for some time, he said, but the death of his mother from cancer about four years ago prompted him to concentrate on cancer research.
Raval was named a Wells scholar as an incoming freshman. He also was named a Truman scholar earlier this year. A portion of the Truman award will allow him to serve an internship this summer at the National Cancer Institute in Washington, D.C.
Asked whether he has been pleased with his experience at IU, Raval enthusiastically responded, "I couldn't have done the things I have done in my life if I hadn't come to IU."
(Susan Dillman, 812-856-9035, sdillman@indiana.edu)