Brittany Morreale Named Rhodes Scholar
11/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Nov. 23, 2009
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Senior Air Force distance runner Brittany Morreale (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.) was awarded one of 32 Rhodes Scholarships for 2010. Morreale is the Academy's 36th recipient of this prestigious award and the 11th cadet-athlete to earn the honor.
Morreale, a physics major, is a member of the Academy's Scholar's Program. She is also an accomplished linguist who will receive a minor in Japanese, a talented musician who plays the viola in the Academy Orchestra Club, the 2008 recipient of the Outstanding Cadet in Cross Country Award and was an exchanges student in Japan for the past two summers and during the Spring Semester of 2009.
As a member of the cross country team, Morreale served as team captain during the 2007-08 seasons, while earning academic all-conference honors and academic all-district honors by CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine. On the track, she holds the freshman and sophomore class recorded in the 5000-meter run and is ranked fourth on the program's outdoor all-time top-10.
"I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of peers, instructors and role models around me who have provided inspiration and encouragement through my time at the Air Force Academy," said Morreale, upon learning that she had been awarded the scholarship on Saturday evening. "I was never alone in this process, and I attribute all my successes to these people. Thank you so much."
After graduating from the Academy next May, she will enroll at Oxford University in England for two years, earning a Master of Science Degree in physics upon completion of her studies. She will then attend undergraduate pilot training here in the United States and become an Air Force pilot.
The Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest and best known award for international study, were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. Applicants are chosen on the basis of the criteria set down in the will, including high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership, and physical vigor.
"Cadet Morreale is a perfect match for the Rhodes Scholarship," said Brig. Gen. Dana Born, the Academy's Dean of the Faculty. "She has hemispheric breadth, musical talent, international experience, and is an athlete."
The 32 Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international group chosen from thirteen other jurisdictions around the world. Approximately 85 scholars are selected worldwide each year.
Morreale is currently taking 21.5 semester hours and serves as the Cadet Wing's Director of Support and Services. She also competed in five cross country meets, including a team-leading performance at the Colorado State Classic.
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