Jeffrey J. Marlow, a senior in Arts & Sciences, is one of 20 students nationwide named to the 2007 All-USA College Academic First Team, USA Today’s recognition program for outstanding undergraduates.
Two other Washington University students were named to the third team and one student received honorable mention, resulting in Washington University tying with the University of Alabama for the most students selected in the newspaper’s competition.
The All-USA College Academic Team was announced in USA Today’s Feb. 15 issue. A bio and photo of Marlow, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in earth and planetary sciences, chemistry and geobiology, all in Arts & Sciences, appear in a center page spread of the paper’s Life section. First Team members receive trophies and $2,500 awards as representatives of all outstanding undergraduates.
Senior Laura A. Kleinman, a Danforth and Truman Scholar majoring in philosophy in Arts & Sciences from Indianapolis, Ind., and Troy J. Ruths, a junior majoring in computer science in the School of Engineering & Applied Science from Sugar Land, Texas, were both named to the third team. Jessica L. Friedman, a senior majoring in earth and planetary sciences and two-time winner of a Morris K. Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, received honorable mention.
Both Friedman and Marlow are members of the University’s Pathfinder Program in Arts & Sciences, a four-year educational experience researching environmental sustainability.
“To have four students selected to USA Today’s All-USA College Academic Team is tremendous recognition for them and Washington University in St. Louis,” said Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor, dean of Arts & Sciences and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences. “Jeffrey Marlow’s senior year has certainly been filled with outstanding accomplishments, having been awarded first a Marshall scholarship and now, a First-Team honor. He exemplifies the quality of student we have at Washington University. We’re very proud of Jeffrey, as well as Laura Kleinman, Troy Ruths and Jessica Friedman.”
This year’s First Team members were chosen from almost 600 students nationwide who were nominated by their schools. They were chosen in a two-step process by judges who considered academics, breadth and depth of activities and leadership, as well as how they have extended their academic skills beyond the classroom.
Marlow is the son of Karla and James Marlow of Englewood, Colo. Earlier this school year he received a 2007 Marshall Scholarship, which provides full support for two or three years of study at any British university toward a second bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree.
With the support of his Marshall scholarship, Marlow will enter Imperial College in London next fall and will work on development and testing of the Urey instrument, a component of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission, which will reach Mars in 2013. The instrument’s purpose is to collect Martian soil and analyze it for biological signatures.
Since the summer of 2005, he has been an Athena Team Student Collaborator on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission and has studied boulder hazards at potential landing sites for NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander.
From the summer of 2004 through 2005, he worked with NASA scientists to characterize the geomorphology of the northern plains of Mars in order to investigate ground ice distribution and pinpoint areas of interest for the Phoenix Lander mission.
He has participated in student government in a variety of positions, including as one of two undergraduate representatives to the Washington University Board of Trustees in 2005-06, sitting on several committees and discussing University concerns with trustees. He also serves as treasurer for the ArtSci Council, the undergraduate student association of the College of Arts & Sciences.
Marlow has received numerous scholarships, including a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, an Arthur Holly Compton Scholarship, a J. Stephen Fossett Fellowship and a Robert C. Byrd Scholarship.