New Rhodes Scholar Wen Shi looked like a breezy old
pro during an on-camera interview last week with WJZ-TV
reporter Sharon Lee.
When the interview was over, Shi, 20, said he was able
to chat with ease about receiving one of academia's highest
honors thanks to hours of behind-the-scenes preparation
with Johns Hopkins advisers like John Bader, assistant dean
of academic
advising at Homewood. In fact, the senior majoring in
biology wants
everyone to know that he didn't become a Rhodes Scholar all
by himself.
"I'm very appreciative to everyone at Hopkins who has
helped me," Shi said of the coaching he received in
anticipation of his Rhodes interviews. "Many professors
wrote recommendation letters and conducted mock interviews
with me. And I'm thankful to Mr. Bloomberg, too." Without
the need-based aid program created by alumnus Michael
Bloomberg, now mayor of New York, Shi said he wouldn't be
here at Hopkins today.
Shi, who is from West Bloomfield, Mich., was born in
China and came to the United States in April 1999, speaking
some English but in need of additional language
instruction. On Nov. 22, he became one of 32 Rhodes
Scholars chosen nationwide from among 963 applicants at 366
colleges and universities. Shi is the only winner from a
Maryland institution among this year's class of
scholars.
Shi plans to conduct cancer research at Oxford
University's Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine,
examining the role of hypoxia inducible factors in
endothelial and cancer cell biology. He hopes his research
will lead to ways to make cancer a manageable disease like
high blood pressure. Shi will study toward a doctorate in
molecular oncology.
"My proposed project will allow me to build upon my
current research interest in cancer signaling and make
discoveries with potential impact," Shi wrote in his Rhodes
application essay. "I am determined to dedicate my
lifetime, knowledge and skills to humanity's conquest of
cancer."
Shi's determination to fight cancer was born after his
mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. (She's in
remission now and lives in China.) His interest in becoming
a Rhodes Scholar was sparked in February 2002 during a
lecture.
"I first became interested in the Rhodes Scholarship
during freshman year after hearing a
Voyage &
Discovery talk by Dr. James Hildreth from the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine," Shi said. "I was really
impressed with his story of overcoming numerous adversities
and becoming a Rhodes Scholar and now a famous AIDS
researcher and administrator at JHSOM. I just told myself
that maybe I'll win a Rhodes before I graduate."
Shi, who will be completing his undergraduate
education in three years, got involved with research
shortly after he came to Johns Hopkins.
"Wen has an incisive intellect and ability to quickly
assimilate new information with critical examination," said
Kathleen Gabrielson, an assistant professor of
comparative medicine at the
School of Medicine. Shi has worked in her laboratory since
October 2001 and is listed as a co-author on two of
Gabrielson's publications. "These qualities have enabled
him to adjust and excel so quickly in his new home in the
United States."
Shi was born and raised in China, where he grew up in
the home of his grandparents. In April 1999, at the age of
15, he immigrated to the United States to join his father,
Arthur Shi. He enrolled in English as a second language
courses, and by his senior year at Andover High School in
Bloomfield Hills, Mich., he was taking Advanced Placement
English. Today, he helps other immigrants learn the
language.
"From my personal experience, I empathize with my
students' hopes and fears, and employ a variety of didactic
methods to improve their English skills," Shi wrote in his
Rhodes essay. "Moreover, I use my own example to show them
that America is truly the land of opportunity: With hard
work and perseverance, they too can fulfill their
dreams."
In addition to his studies at Johns Hopkins, Shi is a
member of several extracurricular organizations. He is the
co-founder of Partners in Sexual Health Education, a group
of Johns Hopkins undergraduates and medical students who
develop and teach sex education and violence prevention
classes to incarcerated youth in Baltimore. He has
volunteered at The Johns Hopkins Hospital's Moore AIDS
Clinic, and he's a member of the Johns Hopkins University
Undergraduate Ethics Board, which promotes academic
integrity on campus. Among the various campus service and
diversity groups in which Shi participates is the
Hopkins Emergency
Response Unit, a team of undergraduate students who
provide 24-hour emergency care to faculty, staff, students
and visitors to the Homewood campus.
"I can make my most significant contributions by
combining my enthusiasm for studying science and passion
for helping others in a medical research career," Shi wrote
in his essay. "I had come to Hopkins only wanting to be a
medical doctor; however, I changed my mind when I learned
that illnesses such as heart disease and cancer afflict
millions worldwide."
Johns Hopkins' most recent previous Rhodes Scholar was
Westley W. Moore of Pasadena, Md., who was selected in
December 2000. Rhodes Scholarships, among the most
prestigious in the world, provide winners with two or three
years all-expenses-paid graduate study at Oxford University
in England.
The Rhodes Scholarships were created by the will of
British colonialist and statesman Cecil Rhodes, who died in
1902. His aim was to bring together young students with
leadership potential from throughout the English-speaking
world for advanced study at Oxford, personal development
and exposure to cultures other than their own. He hoped,
according to the Rhodes Scholarship Trust, to promote
international understanding and peace.
The selection criteria for Rhodes Scholars include
intellectual achievement, concern for others, character,
leadership potential and "physical vigor." Rhodes Scholars
are selected from 19 countries or regions of the world; the
U.S. contingent is the largest.
Related Web site
Office of the American Secretary, Rhodes Scholarship
Trust