Carleton College Senior Named Rhodes Scholar

Carl H. Tape, a senior physics and geology major at Carleton College, is one of 32 American students recently selected as Rhodes Scholars. The Scholars were chosen from 950 applications endorsed by 327 colleges and universities in a nationwide competition. Rhodes Scholarships provide two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England.

Tape, of Fairbanks, Alaska, is Carleton’s 18th Rhodes Scholar. He is the winner of the first overall prize in physics at the International Science and Engineering Fair and the author of numerous articles in geology and physics. He also served as captain of the Knights’ soccer team and earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors in track and field. At Oxford, he plans to earn a master’s in science by research in earth sciences.

“Right now, I’m still in a little bit of shock,” said Tape, a Dean’s List student at Carleton. “I think they were looking for well-rounded people, decent human beings. Fortunately, I met some of their criteria.”

Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of academic achievement, strong character, leadership potential and physical fitness or achievement, among other attributes.

“Carl is extremely bright and articulate and original,” said William Titus, chair of the physics department at Carleton. “He’s modest, too. If we could find a way to clone him, it would be great.”