Air Force’s Madelyn Letendre Earns Prestigious Rhodes Scholarship

Courtesy: Air Force Athletics

COLORADO SPRINGS- Over the weekend, Ramona L. Doyle, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, announced the names of the 32 Americans chosen as Rhodes Scholars, an esteemed list that includes C1C Madelyn Letendre.

Letendre, a member of the Air Force women’s swim team, will pursue an M.Sc. in Therapeutic and Translational Neuroscience and a Master of Public Policy while at Oxford University.

“I am so excited and honored to receive this scholarship,” said Letendre. “It’s an incredible opportunity for me to expand my understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder through the lenses of neuroscience and policy. I hope to use the academic experience I gain at Oxford to improve mental health policies within the Air Force.”

A Biochemistry major, Letendre had done research on disability support systems in the military, receiving a Stamps Scholarship to support her research, winning the Humanities Division Research Award from USAFA.

Dr. Doyle described this year’s class: “This year’s Rhodes Scholars representing the United States–elected by 16 independent committees around the country meeting simultaneously– will go to Oxford University in England in October 2024 to pursue graduate degrees across the breadth of the social sciences, humanities, and biological and physical sciences. They inspire us already with their accomplishments, but even more by their values-based leadership and selfless ambitions to improve their communities and the world.”

Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford—ranked the #1 university in the world in some global rankings—and may allow funding in some instances for four years. Dr. Doyle called the Rhodes Scholarships, “the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates.” The Scholarships were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes and are provided in partnership with the Second Century Founders, John McCall MacBain O.C. and The Atlantic Philanthropies, and many other generous benefactors. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those elected today will enter Oxford in October 2024.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process. First, applicants must be endorsed by their college or university. This year more than 2,500 students began the application process; 862 were ultimately endorsed by 249 different colleges and universities. Committees of Selection in each of 16 U.S. districts then invite the strongest applicants to appear before them for interviews. All districts interviewed 14 or more finalists.

American Secretary Doyle explained that applicants are chosen on the basis of the criteria set down in the Will of Cecil Rhodes. “These criteria include first and fundamentally, academic excellence. This is a critical but only threshold condition. A Rhodes Scholar should also have great ambition for social impact, and an uncommon ability to work with others to achieve one’s goals. They should be committed to make a strong difference for good in the world, be concerned for the welfare of others, and be acutely conscious of inequities.” Dr. Doyle added that “although the Trust strives for the most inclusive application pool possible through outreach and other efforts, consideration of balance or diversity are not factors in selection at either the national or district level.” And finally, she said, “a Rhodes Scholar should show great promise of leadership. In short, we seek outstanding young people of intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service. These basic characteristics are directed at fulfilling Mr. Rhodes’s hopes that the Rhodes Scholars would make an important and positive contribution throughout the world. In Rhodes’s words, his Scholars should ‘esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim.'”

The 32 Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international group of Scholars chosen from 25 other jurisdictions (more than 70 countries) around the world, and for the fifth year, two Scholars from any country in the world without its own Scholarship. Over one hundred Rhodes Scholars will be selected worldwide this year, including several who have attended American colleges and universities but who are not U.S. citizens and who have applied through their home country. With the elections announced today, 3,642 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, representing 327 colleges and universities. Since 1976, women have been eligible to apply, and 663 American women have now won the coveted scholarship. More than 2,000 American Rhodes Scholars are living in all parts of the U.S. and abroad.