Two young people from the Philly area awarded 2027 Rhodes Scholarships
Christopher Y. Shin from Cherry Hill, N.J., and Mary I. Cipperman of Devon, Pa., were among the 32 American students selected from a pool of more than 1,000 for the full-ride scholarship to Oxford.
Two young scholars from the Philadelphia area were awarded Rhodes Scholarships for 2027, the institution announced Saturday.
Christopher Y. Shin from Cherry Hill, N.J., and Mary I. Cipperman of Devon, Pa., were among the 32 American students selected from a pool of more than 1,000 nominated by their colleges and universities for the full-ride scholarship to Oxford University.
Shin is a senior at Harvard University double majoring in chemical and physical biology and government. Cipperman graduated from Harvard earlier this year with a bachelor’s in physics and a master’s in applied physics.
During Shin’s time at Harvard he has researched infectious disease epidemiology with mathematical modeling to understand how to contain disease outbreaks. He also volunteers at Massachusetts General Hospital. Outside of science, math and medicine, he participates in the Harvard Model Congress and plays piano and trumpet. He plays in the Harvard Jazz Orchestra, is president of the Harvard Piano Society, and performs in a pop/funk student band.
Once Shin arrives at Oxford next fall, he’ll pursue a master’s in modeling for global health and a master’s in genomic medicine.
Cipperman, currently researches applications of AI for clinical trial emulation and patient diagnosis as an Alex G. Booth Fellow at the Mahmood Lab at Harvard. She also volunteers with hospice patients, was the president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students, and has conducted research at CERN to improve collision detection.
At Oxford, Cipperman will pursue a master’s in applied digital health and a master’s in medical physics with radiobiology.
Shin, Cipperman and the other 30 Americans chosen for one of the academic world’s most elite awards will begin their studies at Oxford in October alongside scholars from 25 other regions from across the world. They will be part of an international cohort of around 100 scholars.
More than 3,000 students started the application process and 1,006 of them were formally endorsed by more than 281 schools.
In addition to Shin and Cipperman from the U.S. cohort, two international University of Pennsylvania fourth-years were also awarded Rhodes Scholarships: Lena Alshanafey, from Saudi Arabia, and Elliot Ross-Dick, from Trinidad & Tobago.
Alshanafey is pursuing a dual degree in economics and political science in the Wharton School and the College of Arts & Sciences, with concentrations in finance and healthcare management. She’s a Joseph Wharton scholar through the Benjamin Franklin scholarship program, which aims to help foster students’ multidisciplinary interests. Her honors thesis uses hospital records to look at access to treatment for menopausal women in Saudi Arabia.
She also conducts research in Penn’s Department of Health Care Management and has led consulting projects for healthcare companies and startups. Alshanafey has worked at Boston Consulting Group and Sanabil Investments, the venture arm of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, founded Novus Digest, a youth-led publication, and written for Arab News.
At Oxford, Alshanafey will pursue master’s degrees in global health science and epidemiology and in applied digital health. She plans to return to Saudi Arabia to work in health policy and healthcare investing, using population-level evidence to identify gaps in women’s healthcare and guide investments toward models of care that reach women earlier.
Ross-Dick is pursuing a mathematics degree in the College, with a minor in theatre arts. He is enrolled in the accelerated master’s program in International Educational Development and Research in the Graduate School of Education. He is a Penn World Scholar, a member of the Friars Senior Society, the Kinoki Senior Society, cast director for Mask and Wig, and a board member of Quadramics Theatre Company.
At Oxford, Ross-Dick plans to pursue master’s degrees in education research design and methodology and comparative and international education. He will research the application of a culturally relevant framework to Caribbean education as a means of decolonizing the region’s education system.
