Eight select Penn students and recent alumni will travel to the United Kingdom in the fall courtesy of the prestigious Thouron Award — a scholarship exchange between Penn and U.K. schools — to pursue graduate studies in the fields of their choosing.
The Thouron scholars selected this year are College senior Mollie Gordon, College and Wharton senior Sujata Gosalia, Wharton and Engineering senior Michael Grubb, doctoral candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology Michael Keeley, College senior Tony Regenstreif, College and Wharton senior Emily Robin, senior History of Art major Anastasia Schulze, and 1999 Penn Law graduate Omari Simmons.
The scholarships will afford the students an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom while providing them with total living expenses and a stipend that will allow them to explore Europe, said Carole Clarke, the associate director of community development.
“It is an extraordinary chance to live like British students,” Clarke added.
The award was originally established in 1960 by Sir John Thouron to promote Anglo-American relations, according to Robin, who will be studying at the London School of Economics.
The award provides scholarships for students from both Penn and the U.K. and operates in an exchange.
Four students from the U.K. will come to Penn in the fall as part of the program.
About 55 to 60 Penn students applied to the program, according to Clarke.
The applicant pool was narrowed down to about 15 students who then underwent a day-long interviewing process.
“The selectorial committee looks for ambassadorial qualities,” Clarke said, “because the students are expected to be ambassadors for both Penn and the United States.”
Students said the interview process was enriching but also very rigorous.
“The most interesting part of the interview process was the discussion session where you give a presentation [to the committee and your peers], and everyone discusses your topic,” said Gosalia, who plans on studying the politics of the world economy at the London School of Economics.
Each student will be beginning their graduate studies abroad with a different focus, ranging from Social Psychology to Art History.
“I am going to be studying Dutch painting with the best person in the U.K. to study it with,” said Schulze, who will be attending the Courtauld Institute in London.
“I come from Louisiana, and this is a chance to go to the U.K. and get immersed in the culture,” Robin said.
“It will be fabulous to become part of the international community and a part of the legacy [of Thouron scholars] that came before me.”
Outside of the classroom, the recipients all plan to take advantage of the ability to travel and explore Europe. “I hope to travel, travel, travel,” Gosalia said.
