Two Stanford students have been named 2013 Rhodes Scholars: Rachel Kolb, '12, who's at work on a master's degree in English, and Margaret Hayden, a senior majoring in human biology and ethics in society.
Rhodes Scholarships provide full financial support for students to pursue degrees at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Thirty-two Americans are selected each year, based on character and leadership potential as well as academic achievements.
Photo: Leigh KolbKolb, who earned her bachelor's in English with a minor in human biology, will seek a master's in contemporary literature. She is managing editor of the Leland Quarterly, a campus literary magazine, and has received several writing prizes, including the 2011 Creative Nonfiction Prize (an award for undergraduates). Active with Christian ministries and as a disability advocate, Kolb is president of the Stanford Equestrian Team and represented the University in the national finals in 2010 and 2011, when the team finished 4th and 6th, respectively.
Born with a profound bilateral hearing loss, Kolb wrote in her Rhodes application, "As someone who understands the different forms communication can take, from spoken to sign language, I understand the value of flexibility in transmitting ideas."
Photo: Anne HaydenHayden, who plans to pursue a doctorate in medical anthropology, is writing her honors thesis in the Program in Ethics in Society on the consequences of viewing mental illness solely as a neurological dysfunction. A former member of the varsity squash and sailing teams, she has served as a patient advocate at a community health center since fall 2010 and conducted a research project on clients' access to mental health resources.
Hayden has analyzed Latina women's perceptions of postpartum depression and a program designed to improve the outcomes of infants with low birth weights.
