FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Two University of Arkansas Honors College seniors are among only 40 nationwide to receive 2006 Gates Cambridge Scholars. Lance Owen, a senior music major from Fort Smith, Ark., and David Deitz, a biochemistry, political science, and philosophy major from Little Rock, Ark., will begin graduate studies at the University of Cambridge in October of 2006.

“I am very proud of David and Lance, not just because they have each won one of the world’s most prestigious post-graduate scholarships, but also because of their willingness to reach high, to envision great possibilities, and to do the work required to achieve such recognition,” said Chancellor John A. White. “Nationally, only 40 Gates Cambridge Scholars are selected, so the odds are always tough, but our students are not intimidated. Look at the company they keep. Seven other institutions in the country have multiple Gates recipients: Princeton, Northwestern, Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, Yale, and the U.S. Military Academy. Our students are clearly competing with the best.”

Louis Blair, executive secretary of the Truman Scholarship Foundation, and a member of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship interview panel, said, "Over the last nine years, I have watched the University of Arkansas develop strong support for students who are competing for national awards. Getting organized, providing accurate information, letting the students know (win or lose) that their efforts are supported are critical elements if a program is going to be successful. Of course, having splendid students like Lance and David is also key. Chancellor John White, the faculty, and the student body at the University of Arkansas should take great pride in these two students and of the many others like them on the U of A campus."

After completing a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Arkansas, Lance Owen plans to pursue graduate work in musicology with an emphasis on film music. His undergraduate honors thesis will focus on the artistic collaboration between composer James Newton Howard and director M. Night Shyamalan while considering the similar partnership between Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock. Additional musical interests include biomusicology and early 20th-century English composers, namely Holst and Vaughan Williams. Ultimately, he hopes to teach and complete research in the music field while helping to promote interdisciplinary research programs, specifically between the arts and sciences. At the University of Arkansas, he sings with the Schola Cantorum (the university chamber choir) and a local quartet. He works with the annual Student Day of Caring and also co-founded a university group that promotes adoption awareness and helps to raise money for families wanting to adopt children from developing nations.

David J. Deitz is graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Science in biophysical chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, political science, and European studies. A Barry M. Goldwater Scholar and a Sturgis Fellow at the University of Arkansas, he will pursue a Master of Philosophy in the department of history and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge in preparation for a doctoral degree and future work in the field of bioethics. An Eagle Scout and a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, David has been published in ophthalmology textbooks and peer-edited journals, conducted research in organometallic chemistry synthesis, served as the president of the on-campus student body, and is currently the captain of the university's crew team. Additionally, he has volunteered his time with numerous philanthropic organizations, including the local homeless shelter and a free health clinic.

Don Bobbitt, dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, said that scholarships are important in allowing students special opportunities so that they can be competitive at the national level. “The Sturgis Fellowship program is a perfect example. Sturgis Fellows have been Rhodes, Marshall, Goldwater, Truman, and now Gates Scholars. Lance Owen and David Deitz both studied at Cambridge during junior years abroad; both have conducted extensive undergraduate research projects, critical elements for successful applications. Lance Owen and David Deitz are also exceptional people, and we know that they will represent Fulbright College, the University of Arkansas, and the Gates Cambridge Scholarship program well.”

In October 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, Wash., announced a donation to the University of Cambridge of $210 million as an endowment for the Gates Cambridge Trust. The purpose of the trust is to award scholarships to enable outstanding young men and women from outside the United Kingdom to study as graduate students at the University of Cambridge. The trustees award scholarships on the basis of a person's capacity for leadership, intellectual ability, and their desire to use their knowledge to contribute to the well-being of society.

Since the start of program, 527 Gates Scholars from 72 countries have taken up their awards, 224 of them from the United States.

The scholarship program is international in scope, and a second phase of the competition for countries other than the United States will be completed in May-June 2006. The final list of Gates Scholars will be published in October on the trust’s Web site at http://www.gates.scholarships.cam.ac.uk/.

University of Arkansas students interested in applying for nationally competitive awards should contact the Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships in the Honors College, (479) 575-7678.