Alexis Brown is an Algonquin native and a senior at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Brown is an English major, who applied for the scholarship so she could earn a master's degree in English and literature.
Sarah Smierciak is from Lemont, Ill., and graduated from Northwestern University in June with majors in history and Middle East language and civilization. She's been working in Egypt at a transition house for orphaned children. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in development studies at Oxford and dreams of one day being an adviser to the United Nations.
The awards announced early Sunday provide all expenses for study at Oxford University in England. The scholars will enter Oxford next October.
The Associated Press contributed to this report and published the following complete list of this year's winners by geographical region:
District 1:
Helen E. Jack, Hanover, N.H., Yale University
Emma F. LeBlanc, Manchester, N.H., Brown University
District 2:
Elizabeth W. Butterworth, Auburn, Mass., Princeton University
David S. Poritz, Amherst, Mass, Brown University
District 3:
Miriam Rosenbaum, Bronx, N.Y., Princeton University
Brett A. Rosenberg, Chappaqua, N.Y., Harvard College
District 4:
Nina R.W. Cohen, Newton, Mass., Bryn Mawr College
Cory J. Rodgers, Somerset, Pa., Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh
District 5:
Ronan S. Farrow, Washington, D.C.. Yale Law School and Bard College
Brandon E. Turner, Winston-Salem, N.C., Wake Forest University
District 6:
Ishan Nath, Atlanta, Ga., Stanford University
Nabeel N. Gillani, Glen Allen, Va., Brown University
District 7:
Joshua D. Carpenter, Florence, Ala., University of Alabama at Birmingham
Carrie H. Ryan, Sewanee, Tenn., Sewanee: The University of the South
District 8:
Aysha N. Bagchi, Austin, Texas, Stanford University
Anand R. Habib, Houston, Stanford University
District 9:
Mohit Agrawal, West Lafayette, Ind., Princeton University
Victor Yang, Lexington, Ky., Harvard College
District 10:
Sarah N. Smierciak, Lemont, Ill., Northwestern University
Spencer B.L. Lenfield, Paw Paw, Mich., Harvard College
District 11:
Alexis K. Brown, Madison, Wis., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Astrid E.M.L. Stuth, Hubertus, Wis., Princeton University
District 12:
Kelsey R. Murrell, Kearney, Mo., University of Kansas
Katherine Niehaus, Columbia, S.C., Stanford University
District 13:
Zachary A. Crippen, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., United States Air Force Academy
Samuel M. Galler, Boulder, Colo., Harvard College
District 14:
Byron D. Gray, Post Falls, Idaho, University of Washington
Cameron W. Turtle, Pullman, Wash., University of Washington
District 15:
Brianna R. Doherty Carmichael, Calif., Brown University
Tenzin Seldon, Albany, Calif., Stanford University
District 16:
Stephanie Bryson, San Diego, Calif., California State University, Long Beach
Stephanie Lin, Irvine, Calif., Massachusetts Institute of Technology