
Cadet Betterbed, USMA Class of 2010, Rhodes Scholar
Elizabeth Betterbed was selected for a Rhodes Scholarship this weekend. She joins the many West Point Rhodes Scholars from past years. In fact, West Point ranks 4th overall among American colleges and universities in the number of Rhodes Scholars, behind only Harvard, Princeton, and Yale.
Bloomberg.com story
Gig Harbor High graduate is Rhodes scholar – The Associated Press -
A West Point cadet from Fox Island has been named a 2010 Rhodes scholar, it was announced Sunday.
Elizabeth Betterbed was one of 32 men and women from across the United States selected from 805 applicants endorsed by 326 different colleges and universities.
The American student will join an international group of scholars selected from 14 other jurisdictions around the world. Approximately 80 people are selected each year to receive scholarships that average to about $50,000 per year.
Betterbed is a senior at the United States Military Academy, where she is majoring in mechanical engineering and is ranked first in her class.
“She’s grabbed every opportunity in life and looks for new challenges every day,” her father, Thomas Betterbed, said Sunday. “She likes to earn her accolades.”
The 21-year-old grew up loving soccer, becoming an All-American athlete. She graduated from Gig Harbor High School in 2006. She decided to apply to West Point, seeking a challenge for her college years, her father said.
On Sunday, Betterbed was flying back to the East Coast after visiting Seattle for her scholarship interview.
Betterbed is also a member of a team that’s designing and building a powered prosthetic foot to allow wounded soldiers to run.
Betterbed has also won awards for her work in mechanical engineering.
The scholarships announced early Sunday provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England.
Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the estate of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.
Originally published: November 23rd, 2009 12:20 AM (PST)