Encino Man a Rhodes Scholar
A student-athlete from Encino was among 32 Americans chosen to be next year’s Rhodes scholars.
Jordan Krall, a chemistry major at Amherst College, was among those selected on the basis of academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vitality, among other considerations.
The scholarships provide two or three years of study at Oxford University in England and were established by British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes in 1902.
Krall said his passions are equally divided between baseball and chemistry. A starting shortstop, he has played varsity baseball for Amherst for four years.
Krall focused his senior thesis on synthesizing a protein that would block replication of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and plans to study synthetic chemistry at Oxford.
“The research will provide information about how drugs can be designed,” Krall said Sunday.
Krall, who learned about his selection Saturday night, said he still had not had a chance to fully absorb the news.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. I think I’m in a state of shock,” Krall said.
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