Penn Has Two Rhodes Scholars

Two College seniors have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at Oxford University. Jennifer (Jenna) Hebert of Pittsburgh, Pa., is among 32 American college students who were selected for a scholarship, and Adebisi (Debi) Ogunrinde of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is one of 11 recipients from Canada.

Hebert, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in the biological basis of behavior, plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychiatry at Oxford. Her senior honors thesis focuses on the effects of nicotine and stress on neural circuitry. She has published in Frontiers in Neuroscience and presented at the Society for Neuroscience’s conference.

“I am interested in the neurobiological basis of psychiatric disorders,” Herbert said. “My current research is focused on drug addiction and the interaction between stress and vulnerability to the effects of addictive substances in mice. Interestingly, not only does stress seem to have effects on drug response within individual animals, but stress in parents can affect how offspring respond to addictive substances as well. The repercussions of chronic parental stress on children and grandchildren is a major area of research in neuroscience at the moment.”

Hebert has had a seat on the first varsity boat on the Penn Women’s Rowing Team since her freshman year and competed on the U.S. National Rowing Team. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa during her junior year, while finding time to serve as a volunteer at the Philadelphia Adaptive Rowing Club, assisting and instructing physically and cognitively disabled rowers.

“I was thrilled to win the Rhodes scholarship because it will allow me not only to conduct research in neuropsychiatry at a top university but also explore the rich culture and traditions that Oxford and the U.K. have to offer,” said Hebert. “It will be an adventure!”

Ogunrinde will graduate from Penn's Huntsman Program with a dual bachelor’s degree in international studies from Penn Arts and Sciences and in economics from the Wharton School. She discovered her passion for anthropology as a freshman when she traveled to London, Cape Town, and Johannesburg with John Jackson, Richard Perry University Professor of Communication and Anthropology, and Deborah Thomas, professor of anthropology, to study post-colonial violence against Rastafarian communities.

“In my junior year I ventured to Ajegunle, a relatively disenfranchised and impoverished slum in Lagos to help a micro-entrepreneur redesign her salon and research the challenges facing women micro-entrepreneurs in Lagos,” said Ogunrinde, who published a paper on her research. “The most fascinating discovery for me was the disruptive influence of pregnancy, marriage, and subsequent relocation on the success of a business.”

In addition to her research and involvement in social entrepreneurship and engagement, Ogunrinde continues to pursue her interest in competitive debate at Penn, something she has participated in since high school, when she led the Canadian national debate team and coached the Zimbabwe national debate team. She also conducts additional research for the Wharton Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research as part of the Ideas for Action team in collaboration with the World Bank.

“Winning the Rhodes Scholarship is not only a humbling honor and opportunity to build friendships with other incredible and diverse students, but also an opportunity to further pursue my academic interests at a university that has historically shaped anthropology as a field,” Ogunrinde said.

Both Hebert and Ogunrinde applied for the Rhodes Scholarship with assistance from Penn's Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF).

“All of us at Penn could not be more proud of Jenna and Debi,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “They embody the finest attributes of young scholars, each making a profound difference in the world. These two extraordinary women are role models for students everywhere.”