Release date: Nov. 18, 2003
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Emory Senior Named Marshall Scholar

Emory University senior Nicholas Llewellyn, a double-major in chemistry and political science, has been awarded the prestigious 2004 Marshall Scholarship for graduate study in England. He is one of only 40 students nationwide to receive the competitive award, and is the first Emory student to receive the scholarship in 11 years and the 10th overall from the university.

Competition for Marshall Scholarships is extremely rigorous, and more than 800 candidates in the United States are interviewed each year for the exclusive awards. The scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom for two years.

Emory College Dean Robert Paul says Llewellyn is one of the university's most distinguished undergraduate scholars. "Nicholas' outstanding record of hard work, lasting achievement and leadership at Emory give me great confidence that he will thrive and represent us well in Britain," Paul says.

Llewellyn is a Woodruff Scholar--recipient of Emory's top merit scholarship--and has maintained a near perfect 3.98 average (on a 4.0 scale) in pursuing a dual major in chemistry and political science, while also completing his master's degree in chemistry. He is spending his senior year working on his master's thesis research on the directed evolution of proteins. His research advisor, Justin Gallivan, assistant professor of chemistry, describes him as having "the skills, independence and accomplishments in the lab that rival those of many advanced graduate students."

Llewellyn plans to pursue a doctorate in chemistry at either Cambridge University or Imperial College, with a goal of teaching at a college or university and running a research laboratory as an undergraduate teaching tool.

"I really enjoy teaching, which has given me some of the best times of my life. I also think scientists in particular have a tremendous responsibility to do a good job educating the next generation so that they can continue to build on the work and discoveries of today," Llewellyn says.

Despite his own academic demands, Llewellyn has been generous in sharing his knowledge with fellow students. The past three years he has served as a mentor and teaching assistant in the classroom, leading experiments, supervising younger students in laboratory courses and running review sessions. He also served as a peer tutor in Emory's Writing Center.

Outside of the lab, he has been a member of the Emory Wind Ensemble throughout his college career, playing lead baritone saxophone. And, in addition to wrapping up his undergraduate career and preparing for England, Llewellyn will be getting married a couple of weeks after graduation May 10 to Emory alumna Nicole Loveless, a researcher at Emory who graduated last May with a degree in neuroscience and behavioral biology.

The son of Michael and Deborah Llewellyn of Acworth, Ga. (30101), Llewellyn was valedictorian of his class in 2000 at Harrison High School in Kennesaw.

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