Scholar Names F-K

Katelyn Finley

US University: Davidson College

Katelyn Finley, of Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, will graduate in May 2009 with a bachelor's degree in political science from Davidson College. At Davidson Finley's academic work focuses on politics, gender and development in the Middle East. She also participated in and led such extracurricular groups as the Gay Straight Alliance, the Rape Awareness Committee, and a student-run counseling service for survivors of sexual assault. Finley has studied at intensive Arabic language institutes in Jordan and Yemen, and has also traveled and studied in Syria, Lebanon, Ecuador and Djibouti. At Oxford she will pursue an MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies.

Andrew Gamalski

US University: Arizona State University

Andrew Gamalski, a native of Chandler, Arizona, will graduate in May, 2009, from Arizona State University's Barrett Honors College with a B.S. degree in physics and mathematics. In his research, Andrew has investigated the electrical properties of graphene at MIT, the ferroelectric properties of barium strontium titanate and its application to hydrogen fuel cells at Carnegie Mellon, and the growth dynamics of carbon nanotubes at ASU's LeRoy Eyring Center for Solid State Science. Andrew will join the PhD program in electrical engineering at the University of Cambridge, where he will continue researching the growth dynamics of high aspect ratio nanostructures.

Kurt Herzer

US University: Johns Hopkins University

Kurt R. Herzer will receive a B.A. in public health from Johns Hopkins University in 2009, where he studies health services research/policy with the Quality and Safety Research Group. His work ranges from using medical simulation and system engineering to improve surgical care, to national assessments of healthcare quality standards. Kurt's research has carried him from congressional hearings on Capitol Hill to the World Health Organization, where he began developing a methodology to estimate the global burden of healthcare-associated infections. Kurt has authored/co-authored several journal papers and a book chapter, and has spoken at international conferences. In 2008, he became a Truman Scholar and USA Today named him to the All-USA Academic First Team. As a Marshall Scholar, Kurt plans to study evidence-based policy and health intervention at the University of Oxford and will later attend medical school in the United States.

Dhananjay Jagannathan

US University: University of Texas - Austin

Dhananjay Jagannathan, of Cypress, Texas, will graduate with a B.A. in Plan II Honors, Philosophy, and Classics from the University of Texas at Austin and plans to study Ancient Philosophy at Oxford and Cambridge universities. He was born in New Delhi, India, attended primary school in Kingston, Jamaica and secondary school in College Station, Texas before matriculating at UT where he became fascinated by the literature and philosophy of the ancient Greeks. He has worked with local middle and high school students as a mentor and tutor and hopes to embark on a career as a scholar and professor while dedicating himself to improving public K-12 and higher education in the United States.

Max Kleiman-Weiner

US University: Stanford University

Max Kleiman-Weiner, of Santa Monica, California, will graduate in June 2009 from Stanford University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. As a Goldwater Scholar, Max pursued his interest in neuroscience through research at Stanford, UCLA and the Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai. His senior thesis investigated the neural circuits that underlie synchronized oscillations of sleep and epilepsy. At Stanford, he taught a course on the neural basis of memory, edits an undergraduate philosophy journal and helped design a nutritional intervention for Chinese students with the Rural Education Action Project. Max will pursue a D.Phil. in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford.

Samuel Kleiner

US University: Northwestern University

Sam Kleiner is a third-generation Arizonan. He left his hometown of Tucson to study Political Science and American Studies at Northwestern University. Seeking to create learning communities on campus, Sam co-founded the Northwestern Political Union, the Northwestern Interdisciplinary Law Review and served on the Executive Council of Northwestern Hillel. His interest in foreign policy lead Sam to intern at the White House, the State Department, the American Enterprise Institute and serve on the Executive Council of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He will complete the M.Phil in International Relations at the University of Oxford.

Robert Kubala

US University: Boston College

Robert Kubala, of Austin, TX, is a senior at Boston College where he studies philosophy. His primary research interests lie in philosophy of mind, although he has presented papers in history of science and worked in a cognitive neuroscience lab. A Phi Beta Kappa inductee, Robert also plays piano, organ, and harpsichord for a variety of chamber and liturgical ensembles in the Boston area. He has traveled to Iceland, France, and Germany on university grants, translated scientific papers from German into English, and served as musical director for Boston College's contemporary theater group. Robert will study Philosophy at University of St Andrews.