Last modified: Wednesday, November 24, 2004
IU senior wins British Marshall Scholarship to study economics in England
Rebecca Homkes
Editors: Rebecca Homkes will be available for interviews and can be reached by phone. Her contact information is included with this release.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Rebecca L. Homkes of Russiaville, Ind., a senior in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington, has been selected as a Marshall Scholar for 2005 by the British government.
The prestigious scholarship pays all expenses for two to three years of study in any discipline at any British university and is valued at about $60,000. Winners are chosen by a committee in Washington, D.C., chaired by the British ambassador and the chairman of the British Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission.
Homkes, valedictorian of Western High School, will use the prestigious scholarship to earn a master's degree in economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the 11th IU student to have been selected as a Marshall Scholar.
"Obviously, it's very exciting. The program that I'll be studying in is a perfect fit for me. I will be able to study the economic and financial base that I will want to use later to implement policy," said Homkes, who aspires to a career in public service that would include devising national economic development policy.
The Marshall Scholarships were founded by the British Parliament in 1953 to commemorate the Marshall Plan, in which the United States helped the countries of Western Europe rebuild after the destruction of World War II. Among the scholarship program's objectives are "to bring for study in the United Kingdom intellectually distinguished young Americans who will one day become leaders, opinion formers and decision makers in their own country."
Homkes is majoring in finance, accounting and international studies in the Kelley School and political science in IU's College of Arts and Sciences. She also is minoring in economics. She is a Wells Scholar and participated in the Kelley School of Business Honors Program.
While at IU, she studied abroad and completed coursework in international economics and law at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and in Australian politics and policy at Melbourne University in Australia. During her summer breaks from IU, she's had internships with the consulting firms of Bain & Co. of Boston and ACIL Tasman of Melbourne, Australia, and in Sen. Richard Lugar's Washington office.
In the Kelley School, she is president of the IU Global Sales Leadership Club and has been secretary of its student government organization. She also has been active in the IU Student Association and was its federal relations director during the 2001-02 academic year. She has held several leadership positions in the IU College Republicans, and, this year, she was invited to the Republican National Convention.
"Rebecca is one of those rare students that a professor, administrator or colleague recognizes is destined for greatness," said one of her professors, Dick Canada, executive director of the Center for Global Sales Leadership, in recommending her for the scholarship. "It would not surprise me if she became one of our nation's leaders at a very early age."
R. Thomas Lenz, IU professor of strategic management, added, "A decade from now, I fully expect to be inviting Rebecca back to Bloomington to share her professional experiences and inspire the next generation of leaders."
The distinction of being a Marshall Scholar is an important credential in the winners' subsequent academic and professional careers. Prominent past Marshall Scholars include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Duke University president Nan Keohane, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Tom Friedman of The New York Times and Dan Yergin, and noted inventor Ray Dolby.
Hometown information:
Rebecca Homkes, 290 E. Kinsey, Russiaville, Ind.
