Northwestern Senior Named USA Today All-Star

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern senior Mallory Dwinal, a 2009 Rhodes Scholar who will attend the University of Oxford next fall, has been named to the 20th annual All-USA College Academic Team sponsored by USA Today. Another student, Samuel Kleiner, received an honorable mention for this award.

The award recognizes outstanding undergraduate students who expand their intellectual abilities beyond the classroom. Team members receive a $2,500 cash reward.

Dwinal, majoring in Spanish, economics and international studies, founded a program that coordinates and funds English as a second language education in Chicago elementary schools in 2006. Since that time, she has also been a leader of a daily meals program at a homeless shelter. In addition, Dwinal is ranked among the top college students in the country in impromptu and extemporaneous speaking.

While attending Oxford, Dwinal plans to earn a master's degree in comparative and international education. A highly competitive award, the Rhodes Scholarship covers tuition and fees for only 32 annual recipients.

The 20 individuals selected for the All-USA College Academic Team were chosen out of hundreds of students nominated by colleges and universities across the country. Judges considered grades, leadership and activities both in and out of the classroom.

Kleiner, who was recently awarded a Marshall Scholarship, is a senior from Tucson, Ariz., with a double major in the American Studies honors program and political science. He has taken an active role in building civic dialogue by co-founding the Northwestern Political Union, the Northwestern Interdisciplinary Law Review, and the Northwestern Christian-Jewish Dialogue.

The honorees are featured in the April 29 edition of USA Today and also at allstars.usatoday.com.