Four Stanford students chosen for Marshall Scholarships

By Ray Delgado

Two current and two former Stanford students are among the 43 recipients nationwide of Marshall Scholarships.

Seniors Philip "Flip" Tanedo and Mark Otuteye were selected for the scholarships, along with recent graduates Trevor Sutton and Rajaie Batniji. The two-year scholarships are awarded annually to at least 40 American students to study at the graduate or occasionally undergraduate level at any British institution in any field. The scholarships cover university fees, living expenses, research and travel.

Tanedo, 21, of Los Angeles is a senior majoring in physics and mathematics. He will study mathematics at Cambridge University for his first year and spend his second year studying at the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology at the University of Durham. Tanedo's course of study will focus on classes in string theory, field theory, cosmology and mathematical physics as applicable to particle physics.

"Both universities would provide a chance to collaborate with some of the most active theoretical physicists on the other side of the Atlantic—a rare opportunity for students in the United States," Tanedo wrote in his application. "It is my hope that my time spent at these institutions would further develop new and novel ways of looking at problems that I can apply to my research when I return to the United States to pursue a Ph.D."

Otuteye, 22, of Newport Beach, Calif., is a senior majoring in African American studies. He will study English at King's College London and Cambridge University. Otuteye founded the Stanford Spoken Word Collective, a student group of 16 performance poets, and his studies will focus on spoken-word poetry as a literary phenomenon that is part culture, part technology, part performance and part literature.

"In ten years I will be a professor of performance studies who can bring together each of these four elements in a way that provides a legitimate foundation from which to critically analyze spoken word poetry," Otuteye wrote in his application. "I have created a course of study that will develop my expertise in each of these four areas."

Batniji, 24, of Diamond Bar, Calif., graduated in 2003 with bachelor's and master's degrees in history. Born in Gaza, Batniji has interned with the World Health Organization and collaborated with the Gaza Community Mental Health Program. He is currently a medical student at the University of California-San Francisco. He will pursue development studies at Oxford University as part of a broader goal to become a physician.

"The foundation courses in economics, as well as the research techniques coursework, will be critical in informing my career in global health," Batniji wrote in his application. "Perhaps selfishly, I consider this course a bridge that will unite my varied interests in medicine, history and global public health."

Sutton, 24, of New Haven, Conn., graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in history. Currently an investigator with the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme, Sutton will study international relations at Oxford University.

"Through my observations at the United Nations, in journalism and in the [nongovernmental organization] community, I have observed firsthand the intersections between financial transparency, political accountability, human rights and the rule of law," Sutton wrote in his application. "Nowhere is the interdependence of these four components of good governance more obvious and essential than in international institutions and undemocratic societies, where those responsible for key business and policy decisions are often shielded from outside scrutiny."

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