Senior Adam Marshall shot for the stars, so to speak, when he applied for some of the most competitive post-college scholarships, and then took on a lackadaisical attitude about ever winning one.
"I applied for a whole lot of scholarships, and then kept telling myself 'no worries' as other winners were announced," he says. So when his college master, Paul Fry of Ezra Stiles College, called Marshall into his office and announced that he had won this year's Paul Mellon Fellowship, Marshall was ecstatic.
"I am one happy camper," says Marshall. "This is a real opportunity for me," he says about the fellowship, which will fund two years of study at Clare College, Cambridge.
Now in its 21st year, the fellowship was made possible through the generosity of the late Paul Mellon '29, who also studied at Clare College following his graduation from Yale. In addition to supporting graduate study for a Yale College student at Clare College, the fellowship pays for a Clare College student to undertake graduate study at Yale.
Marshall, who is majoring in both political science and history at Yale, will pursue a master's degree in international relations in his first year at Clare College. He plans to use his second year working toward a diploma in international law.
"I'm really excited about the opportunity to be in the Cambridge/Oxford environment," says Marshall. "The great thing about being at Cambridge is that the topics of the courses are more specialized than they are here, with a bit less of a focus on theory. So I will really be able to concentrate on the things I'm interested in."
The Yale senior hopes to use what he has learned to help bring international businesses and international investment into American inner cities.
"Generally, when international companies establish here, they locate in the suburbs," explains Adams. "I think a lot can be done to help attract them to our cities and promote their investment in them."
At Yale, Marshall has been a member of the Ezra Stiles housing committee and head of the residential college's social activities committee. Co-chair this year of Senior Class Gifts, he has also served on the University's Committee on Honors and Academic Standing and was a tutor for three years at New Haven's Helene Grant elementary school.
The Mellon Fellowship is one of several honors Marshall has garnered as an undergraduate. In addition to being elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he won the 1999 Henry James TenEyck Prize for excellence in public speaking, and the 1999 Andrew White Prize for best junior essay in European history. Since 1998, he has been a member of the Phi Alpha Theta history honors society.
Beyond Yale, Marshall has been particularly involved in the issue of voting rights for citizens of his native Washington, D.C. "Obtaining Congressional representation for citizens in Washington, D.C. is a subject I feel strongly about," he states.
The Yale senior says that he is particularly glad that he applied for the Mellon Fellowship. "The great thing about the Mellon Fellowship is that its recipients are chosen by people at Yale, so the ones who are judging your work are far more interested in what you have to say than those who are involved in picking among a group of international applicants," says Marshall.
His college master has great confidence in Marshall's academic and leadership abilities.
"Adam has an extremely advanced knowledge of international relations and the modern history of politics," comments Fry. "He has a graduate-level grasp of these subjects already, so he's well-prepared for work in his chosen fields. He's also a great guy who has been one of the leaders of the college."
The Mellon Fellowship was also awarded to Jessica Thorpe of Clare College, who will come to Yale in the fall as a master's degree candidate in international relations.
-- By Susan Gonzalez
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