Scholar Names L-P

Richard Lin

US University: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Richard Lin of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from Richfield, Ohio, will study at University of Oxford. Fascinated by technology's ability to improve healthcare quality and access for those living in resource-limited settings, Lin has engineered a mobile clinic in Tanzania to bring medical facilities directly to local towns and villages. He has also performed research to construct point-of-care HIV monitoring device for patients in developing countries, and worked with Oxfam International to design an inexpensive water purification device against cholera outbreaks. Having enjoyed studying abroad at Oxford before, he looks forward to continuing his academic pursuits, as well as developing his hobbies of horseriding, volleyball, and crew.

Sally Liu

US University: Duke University

Sally Liu, of San Diego, CA, graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University, where she studied biology, physics, and genome sciences and policy. An Angier B. Duke Scholar, she conducted neuroscience and genetics research at Duke, the Salk Institute, and UC-Berkeley. Passionate about global health, she volunteered in China and at the U.S.-Mexico border region. She also pole vaulted for Duke and was a team captain of the varsity track and field team. Sally will study public health and health policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before attending medical school.

Kuong Ly

US University: Boston College

Kuong Ly, from Woburn, Massachusetts, received his degree in Philosophy from Boston College. The son of genocide survivors and a former refugee himself, Kuong has an interest in genocide prevention, post-conflict reconciliation, migration, health, and refugee rights. His undergraduate research examined the increasing rates of type-2 diabetes in refugee communities in the U.S. and the impact of trauma in preventing diabetes self-care. A Truman Scholar, Harvard Galbraith Scholar, and a member of USA Today's All-Academic First Team, Kuong will continue research on refugee rights and health. He will pursue a Masters in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex.

Kyle Mahowald

US University: Harvard University

From sunny Fort Lauderdale, FL, Kyle Mahowald will graduate Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in English from not-so-sunny Harvard University. He will then study linguistics at the even less sunny University of Oxford. Until his record was broken, Kyle was the youngest person to have a crossword published in the Sunday New York Times. Nonetheless, he has written many puzzles for both the Times and other publications. Besides arranging words in grids, Kyle also sometimes arranges them linearly, like when he used a Harvard College Research Fellowship to write an article that undertakes a reading of Chaucer through Derrida's theory of the gift. When not playing with or on words, Kyle enjoys playing most sports.

Rishi Mediratta

US University: Johns Hopkins University

Rishi Mediratta, of Portage, Michigan, graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2008 with a degree in public health. Rishi's interest in children's health developed while working in Ethiopia. He founded the Ethiopian Orphan Health Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides community-based health care to orphans. Rishi has interned at the World Health Organization, was co editor-in-chief of Epidemic Proportions, volunteered as a first-responder, and was a member of an Indian a capella group. He plans to study medical anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Andrew Miller

US University: Harvard University

A native of Chicago, Andrew Miller will graduate Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard with a degree in Social Studies and a citation in Mandarin Chinese. Andrew has served as World Editor at the Harvard Political Review and a member of the Harvard Crimson's Editorial Board. He has also interned at the Beijing bureaus of both the Christian Science Monitor and City Weekend magazine. While at Harvard, he has tutored in a variety of subjects, organized study groups at the Institute of Politics, and competed with Harvard's Chinese-language debate team. Andrew will pursue an M.Sc. in Politics and Communication at the London School of Economics, where he hopes to continue his research on Chinese press coverage of international affairs.

Brian Mueller

US University: United States Air Force Academy

Brian Mueller will graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in Political Science and a commission in the U.S. Air Force. While at the Academy, Brian helped create the Model United Nations club and served in several leadership positions including Squadron Commander and Soaring Instructor Pilot. Earning a minor in Chinese, he studied at Nanjing University in China and combined his cultural experiences with an internship at the U.S. State Department. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research published his classified research on the future space policy intentions of foreign nations. Brian will pursue a MA in Science and Security at King's College London.

Elizabeth Nyikos

US University: University of South Carolina - Columbia

Hungarian-American pianist Elizabeth Nyikos has performed across three countries and conducted research in Italy, Hungary, Spain, and the US. A University of South Carolina Magellan Research Fellow, Nyikos transcribed a newly discovered fifteenth-century manuscript of polyphony, and arranged for it to be performed and recorded for the first time in six hundred years. She curated an exhibit of manuscripts from the eleventh to sixteenth centuries, founded USC medieval ensemble Canticum Novum, and studied Ars Nova polyphony in Italy and Mozarabic chant in Spain. Elizabeth will continue to research and perform early music, reading for an MPhil in Musicology at Oxford.

Michelle Prairie

US University: University of Connecticut

Michelle Prairie, of Vernon, Connecticut, will graduate in May 2009 with a B.A. in economics from the University of Connecticut. While on campus she has done research for the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, assisted in the development of an economic and social rights index, and been active in Reformed University Fellowship. Her months spent volunteering as an English teacher in Peru, studying development in Sweden, and traveling around Latin America and Europe have moved her to study income inequality and international development with the aim to evaluate and eventually recommend policies. She plans to study economics and development at the University of Nottingham and London School of Economics and Political Science.