The Rhodes Trust yesterday named Aakash K Shah of New Jersey, Prerna Nadathur & Priya M Sury, and Varun Sivaram of California. Aakash K Shah, Cliffside Park, graduated from Ursinus College and is now in his first year at Harvard Medical School.

Prerna Nadathur, Roseville, is a senior at the University of Chicago where she majors in mathematics and minors in linguistics and philosophy.

Priya M Sury, Roseville, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in May, summa cum laude, in anthropology and Spanish.

She is currently studying for an MD degree at the University of Minnesota.

Varun S Sivarum, Monte Sereno, is a senior at Stanford majoring in engineering physics and international relations.

A Truman Scholar and junior mentor at Phi Beta Kappa, Varun has won Stanford prizes for excellence in humanities and political science, as well as in engineering.

The thirty-two Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international group of Scholars chosen from fourteen other jurisdictions around the world.

The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford in the UK.

It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as Time Magazine and Yale University Press.

In addition to the thirty-two Americans, Scholars are also selected from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the nations of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (South Africa, plus Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland), Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Approximately 80 scholars are selected worldwide each year, including several non-US Scholars who have attended American colleges and universities.

The value of the Rhodes Scholarship varies depending on the academic field and the degree (BA, master's, doctoral) chosen.

The Rhodes Trust pays all college and university fees, provides a stipend to cover necessary expenses while in residence in Oxford as well as during vacations, and transportation to and from England.