Pitt Senior Anna Quider Named 2007 Marshall Scholar

PITTSBURGH-Anna Quider, a University of Pittsburgh Honors College student majoring in physics and astronomy, the history and philosophy of science, and religious studies, has been named a 2007 Marshall Scholar. Quider is the ninth Pitt student to win the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, and the University is the only Pennsylvania college or university to have a student selected as a Marshall Scholar this year.

This scholarship is the second major national award won recently by a Pitt student; in mid-November, senior Daniel Armanios received a 2007 Rhodes Scholarship. Only eight other universities-Yale, Harvard, Princeton, NYU, Georgetown, Duke, Cornell, and Washington University in St. Louis-and the three service academies had students selected for both Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships this year.

In 2003, His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, The Duke of York designated the University a Marshall Center of Excellence in recognition of the University's unparalleled record of achievement in the Marshall Scholarship Competition and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Scholarship Program.

The British Parliament created the Marshall Scholarship in honor of General George C. Marshall as an enduring gesture of thanks from the people of Britain for assistance received from the United States after World War II. The Marshall Scholarship is one of the most competitive and prestigious merit scholarships available to graduating American seniors. Only 44 students from across the country were selected for this honor, coming from 37 U.S. colleges and universities.

"My first opportunity to meet with Chancellor's Scholar Anna Quider and to discuss her work in physics and astronomy came last year when she was chosen as a Goldwater Scholar," said Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg. "I was struck by the sheer breadth of her interests-she is majoring in physics and astronomy, the history and philosophy of science, and religious studies-and by her service as the editor in chief of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review, a national journal published by the University Honors College. Selection as a Marshall Scholar is testament to her record of superb performance and academic excellence. It also is a tribute to the strength of our Honors College and a clear reflection of the high priority that Pitt attaches to excellence in undergraduate education."

A native of Grand Island, N.Y., Quider works on quasars with Pitt Professor David Turnshek and Sandhya Rao, a research assistant professor, both with the Quasar Research Group in Pitt's Department of Physics and Astronomy. With the Marshall, Quider plans to do graduate work in astrophysics at Cambridge University. She hopes her research will lead to a better understanding of how gases form into galaxies and how galaxies structure the universe.

"Anna combines vast technical ability in physics and astronomy with an unbridled enthusiasm for science literacy and outreach with young children," said Alec Stewart, dean of the Honors College and Pitt's Marshall representative. "It is difficult to imagine a more desirable combination for future leadership in a technological age."

According to Stewart, the Marshall is often compared to the Rhodes Scholarship; both emphasize character as well as intellect. More flexible than a Rhodes Scholarship, which requires study at Oxford University, the Marshall has emerged as the gateway scholarship to higher education in Britain, Stewart said. The scholarship guarantees access to any British university for two or three years of funded study toward a degree.

Since 1980, no college or university in Pennsylvania, public or private, has won more Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships than Pitt.

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12/04/06/tmw