Tucker Murphy '04 will be leaving Bermuda's sunny beaches for England's hallowed halls this October as a Rhodes Scholar. Murphy will study for a master's degree in integrative bioscience at Oxford University.
The Rhodes Scholarship is a highly competitive award which finances post-graduate work at Oxford. Scholars are chosen based on their demonstrated potential for leadership and academic achievement.
When he arrived at Dartmouth, Murphy looked forward to pursuing a course of study in biology and anthropology. While at the College, Murphy received the anthropology department's McKennan prize as a freshman and garnered citations for exemplary work in biology, anthropology, architecture and Spanish literature.
Murphy satisfactorily fulfilled the "physical vigor" and "spirit of unselfishness" components of the scholarship as well. A member of both the heavyweight crew and cross-country ski teams during his time in Hanover, he volunteered at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vt., and at the National Geographic Society. He also served as a writer and associate editor of the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science.
Murphy described his Dartmouth career as an athlete, a volunteer and a biology major modified with anthropology as "pretty intense." After graduation, he finished an architecture course in the Career Discovery Program at Harvard Design School.
"I was lucky at Dartmouth to encounter a number of passionate professors and coaches who encouraged independence," Murphy said. "The Rhodes will allow me to continue this effort."
Oxford's research program in the emerging field of biomimetics attracted Murphy to the university. Murphy said the field, which examines adaptations in the natural world that might be applied to modern human problems, combines his interests in architecture and design with biology.
Murphy was particularly drawn to the work of Oxford researcher Adam Parker, whose research would have led him to enroll in the master's program at Oxford even if he had not won the Rhodes Scholarship.
After the scholarship expires, Murphy said he might remain at Oxford to earn his doctorate and that he expects research to be a part of his future.
