Scholar Names N-Z
Collin O'Mara
US University: Dartmouth College
A native of Syracuse, New York, Collin O'Mara graduated from Dartmouth College
with high honors in History and Classics. As a senior, he conducted field-research
in fifty Greek archaeological sites in preparation for his thesis,
"The Development of a Democratic Civic Identity and Civic Ideology." As an
undergraduate, O'Mara served as an assistant to Congressman James Walsh and as
a coordinator for Senator John McCain's New Hampshire Presidential Primary youth
campaign. On campus, O'Mara served as Class President and on the Committee on
Standards. Following graduation, O'Mara returned to Syracuse as an
AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer to teach in the inner-city school for violent students.
In February 2002, Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll appointed O'Mara to oversee
SyraStat, his computerized accountability division. O'Mara also serves as
Executive Director of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. Upon
completion of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics course at Oxford,
O'Mara plans to continue in public service and focus on stimulating economic
opportunities, strengthening schools, making communities safer and ensuring
that government is compassionate, responsive and efficient.
Collin Raymond
US University: Arizona State University
When he began stargazing on cold winter nights in the Midwest, Collin Raymond,
of Eagan, MN, could hardly imagine that he would be seeing them in places as
far off as Mongolia and Tanzania. Now studying mathematics and economics at
Arizona State University, Collin has interned with banks in both countries
while researching developmental economics. Collin enjoys playing piano and
saxophone, hiking, running, and writing, and has volunteered with disadvantaged
youth. He is currently working on a project to document destroyed Buddhist
monasteries in Mongolia. He looks forward to studying for an MSc in Global
Market Economics at the London School of Economics.
James "JR" Rigby
US University: University of Mississippi
James is completing his undergraduate degree
at the University of Mississippi in Physics with minors in mathematics and
geology. His interest in this subject has taken him to Langley Research Center
and the Brazilian rain forest. He is active in the Reformed University Fellowship
Community Outreach program and is the Baptist Student Union Community Day Group
Leader. JR plays classical and flamenco guitar and gives classical guitar lessons
at the Community Center for the Arts in Madison. JR keeps active by running and
long distance hiking. At Oxford he will pursue a DPhil in geography as preparation
for a career studying sustainable land use.
Carolyn Snyder
US University: Amherst College
Carolyn is a Goldwater Scholar and a double major in Biology and Geology at
Amherst College. Her love of nature inspires her to unite her scientific
curiosity with her desire to become, in the words of Aldo Leopold, a "land
citizen". Equipped with a varied scientific background, Carolyn aims to
contribute to the quest for human sustainability in the face of the current
environmental crisis. She believes that the solutions of the future entail
more than scientific understanding. Carolyn plans to use her Marshall
Scholarship to obtain an MSc in Global Change and Management at Oxford
University and a MPhil in Environment and Development at the University of
Cambridge.
Eric Tucker
US University: Brown University
Eric Tucker, a 2002 Brown graduate, lives and works in Providence,
Rhode Island. A native of Iowa City, Iowa, He founded the Providence Urban
Debate League, a statewide youth development program dedicated to improving
urban schools. Eric wrote honors theses in Africana Studies and Public Policy
and was a Truman Scholar. He has published and presented articles and papers on
urban education reform, and will pursue a Masters of Science in Education Research
Methodology at Oxford. Raised in Iowa and Japan, he has consulted with non-governmental
organizations and school districts in 15 states and in Europe, Asia, and Latin
America. His work with farmers, activists, convicted juveniles, undocumented
immigrants and international youth organizers has taught him a commitment to
including the voices of ordinary, working people in his research.
Nathaniel "Parker" van Valkenburgh
US University: Stanford University
Parker van Valkenburgh
hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma and will graduate from Stanford this year with an
AB in Anthropological Sciences. He is currently writing about a set of
3000-year-old conch shell trumpets he helped unearth in Peru and has taken
interest in comparative archaeological work spanning the Andes, China and
Mesopotamia. At Stanford, Parker has worked with Jasper Ridge Biological
Preserve, Synergy Cooperative house, and the student archaeology association
and has held a number of advising and research positions. He has a strong
liking for real ale and bebop jazz. During his first year in Britain,
Parker plans to pursue an M.Phil in World Archaeology at the University of
Cambridge.
Anna Vaninskaya
US University: University of Denver
Anna Vaninskaya emigrated to the United States from the former USSR at the age
of ten. She graduated from the University of Denver with numerous awards,
summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in three years, and is now using the
fourth year of her Boettcher Scholarship to complete a Master's degree in
English. Anna is the president of the Sigma Tau Delta chapter at DU, and has
been the editor of two student literary journals, as well as an intern at the
Denver Quarterly. She has published poetry, a critical essay in the Oswald
Review, and has presented her work at student and professional conferences.
Last year she conducted a lecture series on art and literature for
International Baccalaureate classes at her former high school. Anna plans to
return to Oxford University, where she spent her junior year abroad, to pursue
a DPhil in English Literature. She hopes to become a professor.
Paul Vronsky
US University: University of Washington, Seattle
Paul Vronsky was
born in Poland and grew up in Auburn, Washington where he attended Thomas
Jefferson High School. He is a senior at the University of Washington,
majoring in Economics. Outside of the classroom, Paul plays the tuba,
baritone and sousaphone and is an active volunteer in a wide range of
activities from tutoring students to working at food banks. He is hoping
to earn an MPhil in Economics and later hopes to pursue a career in public policy.
Kristina Weaver
US University: Yale University
Kristina has two interests: the theory and practice of anthropology and
social revolution. She grew up in Burkina Faso, Hungary, Nigeria, Bulgaria,
and the southern United States. At Yale University she did fieldwork in
international institutions, weaving activism into academics. She plans to
study for an MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History at the University of
Cambridge and an MA in the Social Anthropology of Development at the School
of Oriental and African Studies. Her scholarship will focus on interactions
between western nation-states and the Two-Thirds World and the various ways
that people negotiate imperialism in its many forms. Kristina writes
fiction, and will learn beekeeping at her sister's farm this summer.
John "Josh" Woodruff
US University: University of Georgia
Josh was born and
raised in rural South Georgia. After earning an undergraduate degree in
biochemistry and cellular biology from the University of Georgia, Josh hopes
to pursue graduate training in the fields of immunology and medicine. In
2002 Josh created the Afya Project, a medical service project that was
carried out in Mwanza, Tanzania. As a part of the project, he and his
colleagues provided Internet connectivity to local physicians. They also
took measures to curb nosocomial malaria infections in one of Mwanza's
hospitals. He hopes to eventually develop vaccines for diseases that
disproportionately affect the developing world. Josh plans to read for
a MSc in Immunology of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine.
Adam Zimbler
US University: University of Pennsylvania
Adam Zimbler is a graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka,
Illinois and is currently a senior in the Huntsman Program for
International Studies & Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Adam has served as the president of his class and has been cited for his
research on the Japanese economy and corporate social responsibility.
Planning to focus future research efforts on political theory, Adam will
be reading for an MPhil in Politics at Oxford.
