Huntsman senior named Rhodes scholar

College and Wharton senior Joyce Meng was among 32 American students to receive the Rhodes Scholarship last Saturday.

Meng, a Joseph Wharton Benjamin Franklin scholar as well as a Wharton Research Scholar, said she is excited to study at Oxford University, where she plans to obtain two Master's degrees in economics for development and financial economics.

Meng is the only Penn student to earn a Rhodes Scholarship this year. She is also the first Penn student to earn a Rhodes in two years.

At Penn, she is currently the captain of the debate team, plays ice hockey and is involved in several Wharton clubs.

After her freshman and sophomore years, the Huntsman Program student worked at international finance firms in Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively. Last summer, after interning for Goldman Sachs, Meng worked for FINCA International, a micro-finance firm.

She also traveled for four weeks around rural Mexico and interviewed over 100 people in Spanish at the end of last summer.

Despite her background, Meng remains modest about her accomplishments.

"It was so out of the blue," Meng said of her selection.

Along with three other students - Wharton seniors Jason Mischel and Julie Pearne, Wharton and Engineering sophomore Alexander Yen and 2007 Wharton alumna Clara Chao - she founded Youth Bank, a micro-business incubator in Lagos, Nigeria, that works to provide financial opportunities for urban youth.

"Joyce really represents the best of Penn," said Provost Ron Daniels. "She's a high achiever, she has a wide range of interests and she cares so much about making the world a better place."

Harriet Josephs, director of the Center of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, added, "Joyce is just an unbelievable student and we're really proud of her."

To apply for the Rhodes Scholarship, students must be nominated by their universities. This year, 764 students were endorsed by 294 different colleges and universities, and 32 winners were selected to study for two or three years at Oxford.

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