It was announced on November 19, 2005 by Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, that thirty-two American men and women were chosen as Rhodes Scholars. They will enter the University of Oxford in England in October 2006. The Scholars were chosen today from 903 applicants--who were endorsed by 333 colleges and universities. Rhodes Scholarships provide two or three years of study at Oxford. The Rhodes Scholarships, oldest of the international study awards available to American students, were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and colonial pioneer. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904.
One of the chosen scholars is William L. Hwang from District V, Maryland/District of columbia. Hwang of Potomac, Maryland, is a Duke University triple major in biomedical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and physics, who has earned only a single grade in coursework lower than an A+, and that was an A. In 2003, he founded a non-profit organization, United InnoWorks Academy, Inc.,which develops creative science and engineering programs for young people from underprivileged backgrounds. He has won Goldwater and National Science Foundation awards, and is a member of Duke's national championship volleyball squad. William will do a doctorate in biological physics at Oxford.