Luther student selected as Rhodes Scholar

Luther College senior Georgianna "Annie" Whiteley of Wayzata, Minnesota has been named a Rhodes Scholar.  Whiteley was selected from a pool of 838 candidates.  She was the only student from an Iowa school selected for the honor.

Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England, and may allow funding in some instances for four years.  Whiteley will begin studies at Oxford in October 2013.

"Annie is such a delightful, unassuming young woman. We're just thrilled for the doors and opportunities this will open for her," said Luther associate dean and director of curriculum development and college honors Terry Sparkes.

Whiteley has maintained a 3.988 GPA while majoring in chemistry and pursuing a minor in biology at Luther.

Her research experience includes time at The Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute at the University of Iowa and Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minn., but her journey toward becoming a Rhodes Scholar started in her sophomore year when she spent her January term in Tanzania, studying the Maasai, one of the indigenous cultures in the east African country.

Whiteley traveled to northern Tanzania and conducted interviews of Maasai elders to document indigenous plant knowledge to be used in the curriculum of Noonkodin Secondary School in Monduli, Tanzania. She also worked to develop laboratory methods to help the school extract the essential oils from plants to put into soap and sell as part of a cottage industry for the school. Her work was supported by a Luther Student/Faculty Collaborative Grant and McElroy Student Faculty Collaborative Grant.