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Oxford bound
CAS student selected as 2004 Rhodes Scholar
By Tim Stoddard
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Aram Chobanian (right), president ad interim, and Provost Dennis Berkey (left) congratulate Rick Malins (CAS'04) on winning a 2004 Rhodes Scholarship. Malins, a senior majoring in chemistry and neuroscience, will begin graduate studies at Oxford University next October, focusing on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky |
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While most undergraduates were cramming for midterms before Thanksgiving, Rick Malins was in San Francisco weathering a different kind of stress. A CAS senior majoring in chemistry and neuroscience, Malins was one of 12 semifinalists from southwestern states competing for the 2004 Rhodes Scholarship. The candidates completed a final interview with a panel of judges and then were escorted to a room where they waited together for three hours while the judges deliberated. “That was an interesting psychological experience,” Malins says. “Everyone was dealing with the pressure in a different way. I had some great conversations during that time, about science and philosophy and music, but we were all really nervous.”
When the judges returned, it was with good news for Malins: he had received one of the prestigious scholarships for two to three years of graduate study at Oxford University. He is one of 32 Americans who will enroll in the program at Oxford next October, a century after the first class of Rhodes Scholars from America arrived there in 1904. “It's a great honor,” he says, “and I'm thrilled to have this opportunity.”
Next year's Rhodes Scholars were chosen from 963 applicants worldwide. Malins, who hails from Pearl City, Hawaii, is the seventh Boston University student to win the coveted scholarship, which was created in 1902 as part of the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Candidates apply from either the state where they legally reside or where they have attended college for at least two years. They are chosen on the basis of academic achievement, integrity of character, potential for leadership, and physical vigor.
A magnificent mind
Malins has indeed achieved highly at BU. He is a Trustee Scholar, a Harold Case Scholar, a Beckman Scholar, and a winner of the Mason Memorial Prize for Excellence in Chemistry. “Rick's academic record is as close to perfect as you can get,” says Morton Hoffman, a CAS professor of chemistry and Malins' academic advisor. “He has one A-minus. He's a spectacular student, not only in chemistry, physics, math, and biology, but in everything else that he touches.”
As a freshman, Malins found his niche in an intensive general chemistry course with Hoffman. “In my class, he was an outstanding student among many outstanding students,” Hoffman says. Excelling in chemistry, Malins found a second calling in neuroscience. “Towards the end of my sophomore year,” he says, “I became interested in the brain and how it functions, so I started taking classes in neuropsychology.” Several of these were with
Jackie Liederman, a CAS associate professor of psychology. “Rick is extremely bright, in a very creative, integrative way,” Liederman says. “He absorbs information from different disciplines and applies it with incredible insight.”
Liederman recalls many lectures where Malins navigated unfamiliar intellectual territory. “In the advanced graduate class,” she says, “Rick was hearing things from guest lecturers that I knew he'd never encountered before. And he would ask questions that, on the one hand, were naïve, but on the other hand, were so interesting. You could see the lecturers stop in their tracks, because the wording of Rick's question revealed that the concept was new to him. But the content of his questions showed that he really was thinking on a much higher level than most people in the room. That's what made him so interesting. You saw him learning.”
In the spring of his sophomore year, Malins approached Christine Li, a CAS associate professor of biology, about working in her lab. Li is interested in the neurobiology of aging, and part of her research focuses on the genes involved in Alzheimer's disease. Most of the students in her lab are Ph.D. and master's candidates, but Li was impressed by Malins' academic achievements and took him on. That summer, Malins was one of three BU sophomores to win the competitive Beckman Scholarship, a national program supporting undergraduate research in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and biomedical engineering. The scholarship has supported his research into the function of a gene that may be involved in the onset of Alzheimer's disease. This past summer, Malins flew to Irvine, Calif., to present his research with other Beckman Scholars at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.
Malins' research has involved a lot of extracurricular learning. “Rick's unusual in my lab,” Li says, “in that he's never had a formal genetics course. There's a lot of complicated genetics that goes on in our weekly lab meetings, but he's had no trouble understanding it. I've had to teach him a few things one-on-one, and he's picked them right up.”
The talented Mr. Malins
According to Li, however, it is Malins' warmth and geniality that sets him apart. “Rick is one of the nicest guys,” she says. “If anybody needs help, he's always the first to volunteer. And he's really diplomatic. Even if he completely disagrees with you, he would never say, ‘That's ridiculous' or ‘That's stupid.' He'll say, ‘Well, that's an interesting point of view, but I actually think of it this way.' He's fun to have in the lab that way. And that's why he's going to be a great Rhodes Scholar.”
Liederman concurs, noting that Malins' genuine enthusiasm for learning is obvious in the classroom. “Rick gets excited and interested, and he's a fun student to teach,” she says. “But he's not a nerd. He works hard, but he's a very social, gracious, friendly, normal guy. He comes across as earnest but not driven.”
He's also a well-rounded individual. Malins has been involved in Boston University Stage Troupe since freshman year, directing a production of Richard III in spring 2002 and now serving as president of the organization. “Theater is an excellent counterpart to science,” Malins says. “It's great to have something artistic to put my energies into.” Malins has also played viola in BU's all-campus orchestra, and has volunteered at a community service center in Roxbury, helping disadvantaged kids with schoolwork. “He's a Renaissance man,” says Hoffman. “What stands out about Rick is not only his intellectual capacity, but his soul. It doesn't matter what we speak about — chemistry or plays or music or travel — it is interesting and exciting conversation. It's his ability to communicate and engage in conversation at really an outstanding level.”
Over Christmas break, Malins will be formally applying to Oxford, and selecting a faculty member there to work with. He hopes to continue studying neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. “There are a lot of people in the field who do joint research on both diseases,” Malins says, “so I'd be interested in following that further.”
Malins isn't sure yet what he'll do after Oxford, but it may include medical school or postdoctoral research. After talking with several BU faculty who were Rhodes Scholars, such as Michael Hasselmo, a CAS professor of psychology, Jim Collins, a UNI professor and ENG professor of biomedical engineering, and BU President Emeritus Jon Westling, Malins says that he would also like to emulate their academic careers: “They're great faculty, their research is excellent, and it's inspiring. The people who've had this scholarship have accomplished so much, and I would like to see myself achieving similar things.”
Malins' mentors at BU also hope that he will consider teaching at the university level. “It is very clear to me that Rick is a born teacher,” says Hoffman. “He would be a great physician, no doubt about it, but I've asked him to think about a career in academia. Frankly, I hope that as he goes through his graduate school career, universities will keep their eyes on him. He's a wonderful young man. He's about as good a Rhodes candidate as BU or anyplace else would ever have. I hope that in the future, he will serve as the exemplar for other students at this University to succeed.”
12
December 2003
Boston University
Office of University Relations