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BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKOWITZ HONORS BROOKLYN’S RHODES SCHOLARS

Eugene Shenderov and Ian Desai Received Citations at Borough Hall

Photographed by Lillian Ho

In photo from left to right: Rhodes Scholar Ian Desai, Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Rhodes Scholar Eugene Shenderov.

On Friday, November 26, Borough President Marty Markowitz honored Brooklyn resident Eugene Shenderov (21), a senior chemistry major at Brooklyn College and Brooklyn native Ian Desai (22), a graduate of the University of Chicago who majored in ancient studies, for winning prestigious Rhodes Scholarships. Both scholars will enter Oxford University in England in October of 2005.

“How sweet it is that two of this year’s Rhodes Scholars hail from the City of Brooklyn,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Brooklyn is the perfect place to nurture your intellectual curiosity and we are so proud of Eugene Shenderov and Ian Desai for representing the best and brightest Brooklyn minds. I’m confident that these young scholars will excel at Oxford and hope they will return to Brooklyn after their studies to make our great borough even better.”

Eugene Shenderov was born in the Ukraine near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and arrived in the United States at the age of 6, suffering from leukemia symptoms. He was homeschooled by teachers from the Board of Education during his elementary years. Shenderov plays varsity tennis, is president of the chess team, and serves on Brooklyn College’s ambulance corps. At Oxford, he plans to earn his doctorate in tumor immunology.

Ian Desai was raised in Brooklyn and graduated in 2004 from the University of Chicago. Desai was co-founder and executive director of the Chicago Society, a board member of South Asia Watch, and a founder of the Kashmir Project. Desai spent the summer of 2001 tracing the journey of Jason and the Argonauts through Greece, Turkey and Georgia. At Oxford, he plans earn his masters in Oriental Studies and European Literature.

The thirty-two Rhodes Scholars from the United States were chosen from 904 applicants and will join an international group of Scholars chosen from eighteen other jurisdictions around the world. The Rhodes Scholarships, oldest of the international study awards available to American students, were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and colonial pioneer. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904.