GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg led the District V (Mid-Atlantic Region) Rhodes Scholarship 2007 Selection Committee, which concluded last month. In his eighth year as part of the selection process, Trachtenberg managed a seven-person panel charged with selecting two Rhodes Scholarships to candidates from the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland or West Virginia.

“It is a great source of pride to know that our institutions of higher education are bringing out the very best in these students,” said Trachtenberg in a press statement. “Indeed, as I interact with the candidates for Rhodes Scholarships, my outlook for the future brightens for these are tomorrow’s leaders.”

Today, there are 16 selection committees that each select two scholarship winners. In total, there are 32 Rhodes Scholars annually.

The winners embark on two years of study at Oxford University in England tuition – free. Scholars are allowed to establish their own course during their time at Oxford and may work toward a master’s degree or a second bachelor’s degree.

The Rhodes Scholarship program began in 1902, and two years later, the first American participants were chosen. Today, applicants from more than 300 American colleges and universities have been selected as Rhodes Scholars.