Fourth-year Leah Rand has received a prestigious Marshall Scholarship, which will allow her to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom.
Rand, 22, of Chevy Chase, Md., is majoring in HIPS (History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine) and minoring in art history at the University of Chicago.
Rand hopes to pursue her passion for medical ethics by studying philosophy at the University of Oxford next year.
Rand is currently working as a research assistant to Dr. William Meadow on an ethics-related study and regularly attends the MacLean Center for Medical Ethics' weekly case conferences. She is one of the few undergraduates to attend the master’s-level summer intensive course at the MacLean Center.
These experiences have “really shaped who I am, and my excitement about medical ethics,” she said.
This year, Rand is the head judge for the famed UChicago Scavenger Hunt. In addition, she serves on the Prospective Student Advisory Committee and is active in University Theater.
“While I can fantasize about getting to go off and study at Oxford … it’s still really hard to wrap my mind around that being real,” Rand said of receiving the scholarship.
Rand is UChicago’s 20th Marshal Scholar since 1987. Two UChicago students received Marshall Scholarships in 2010.