Michael Norton, an alumnus of the honors college at the University of Arkansas, has won a Marshall Scholarship to study political science at Oxford University. Norton also earned a Truman Scholarship in 2012, and he is going to interview for a Rhodes Scholarship in the near future. New rules allow winners of the Marshall to go forward with other interviews.
Already in an elite group for having won a Marshall and a Truman scholarship, Norton would be in super-elite company if he were to add a Rhodes Scholarship.
UA senior Rachael Pelligrino will also interview for a Rhodes Scholarship. In addition, she is a finalist for a Truman Scholarship.
Norton will become the 7th UA winner of a Marshall Scholarship. The scholarships provide full funding for academic and living expenses for two years of study at any university in the United Kingdom. Most winners choose Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, King’s College of London, the London School of Economics, or Imperial College of London.
Norton told the Arkansas Traveler that the UofA Office of Nationally Competitive Awards was central to the development of his successful application.
“The office is a great treasure of the university when it comes to these awards,” he said. Suzanne McCray of that office is known for her mock “interviews.”
The Marshall Scholarship was established in 1953. It awards up to 40 American students each year. For the 2013 year, 943 students applied for the scholarship and 34 were selected.