FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas student Karli Lipinski and alumna Victoria Maloch have been selected as finalists for the Marshall Scholarship – one of the best-known and most competitive awards for graduate school in the world.

Up to 40 scholars are selected each year to study at the graduate level at an institution in the United Kingdom, in any field of study. Both students interviewed in Houston this week.

Karli Lipinski is a Chancellor’s Scholar and Honors College student majoring in chemistry with a focus in biochemistry in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. She plans to pursue a Master of Science by Research in biochemistry at Oxford University and a Master of Research in molecular biophysics for Medical Sciences at King’s College London if selected to receive the scholarship. Lipinski is from Benton.

Victoria Maloch is a 2017 Honors College graduate who majored in agricultural business with a minor in agricultural communications from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. She plans to pursue a Master of Philosophy in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation from the University of Oxford if selected to receive the scholarship. Maloch is a native of Emerson.

“Karli Lipinski and Victoria Maloch are in very different disciplines, but both are exceptional individuals and scholars, and they will represent the University of Arkansas and the state with distinction,” said Jim Coleman, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “We are delighted that they have been selected and wish them well, but regardless of the outcome of this scholarship, we know we’ll be reading about the accomplishments of both in the years ahead.”

The Marshall Scholarship is one of the most prestigious postgraduate scholarships available to an American. Recipients are allowed one to three years of graduate level study at the university of their choice in the United Kingdom. The scholarships recognize the work of U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall and are an expression of the U.K.’s gratitude for economic assistance received through the Marshall Plan after World War II. Marshall Scholarship winners are selected for their potential to excel as scholars, leaders and contributors to improve understanding between the U.S. and the U.K. More than 1,200 top students apply for the nationally competitive Marshall Scholarship.

University of Arkansas students who are interested in applying for scholarships like the Marshall should contact the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at awards@uark.edu.

Karli Lipinski

The recipient of many campus awards and scholarships, Karli Lipinski spent the summer of 2017 as a student in the University of Kentucky’s Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices Research Experience for Undergraduates program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Here at Arkansas, she conducted research on characterizing a nanovesicle drug delivery system for personalized cancer treatment. Additionally, Lipinski has worked alongside her mentor, Roger Koeppe, in his lab since 2015. She has also spent a summer interning and studying at the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, and a week studying coastal Caribbean biology in Belize.

She plans to eventually pursue a doctorate in biophysics and become a successful self-sustaining researcher.

“Karli Lipinski is very deserving of this recognition. She will have a distinguished career in research,” said Koeppe, Distinguished Professor of biochemistry. “She is equal to any student nationally in regards to academic merit and leadership. In addition to her potential in research, teaching and academic science, she has been and will always be an outstanding ambassador for the University of Arkansas and for the state.”

Lipinski is an Honors College Ambassador at the University of Arkansas. She works with current and potential U of A students, encouraging them to get involved with research opportunities available to them. She is also involved in Chemists Without Borders and Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional chemistry fraternity, where she serves as treasurer.

Victoria Maloch

In the spring of 2016, Maloch was selected as a Harry S. Truman Scholar, a $30,000 scholarship to assist paying for graduate school in the U.S for students pursuing careers in public service. From 2014-2015 she served as secretary of the National Future Farmers of America Organization.

Upon her graduation from the U of A in spring of 2017, Maloch was awarded the Senior Honor Citation from the Arkansas Alumni Association, the John W. White Outstanding Student Award from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and the Henry Woods Student Leadership Award.

As a U of A student she was involved with the Volunteer Action Center, Student Alumni Board, Associated Student Government, and Young Democrats. She is politically minded and has worked in the offices of U.S. Rep. Mike Ross and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and also volunteered on several state congressional campaigns.

“Victoria Maloch was a force to reckoned with on our campus,” said her honors thesis adviser Jill Rucker, an assistant professor in agricultural education, communications and technology. “You could see her fingerprints on a long list of projects. She has been a leader nationally, and I have no doubt she will one day in the near future be a political leader in this state. As a product of rural America, Victoria plans to continue her education to enable her to expand her service to the public and effectively affect change for those communities in our state and beyond it who need it most.”

Maloch currently works as a Truman-Albright Fellow in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, where she serves as a staff member for the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.

About the Marshall Scholarship: Beginning with the first twelve Marshall Scholars in 1954, Marshall scholarships were created in order to finance young Americans of high ability to study for a graduate degree in the United Kingdom. Marshall Scholars strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions. Marshall Scholars are talented, independent and wide-ranging, and their time as Scholars enhances their intellectual and personal growth. The University of Arkansas has had seven Marshall Scholars, including Mike Norton (2014), Ben Hood (2002), Megan Ceronsky (2001), Warwick Sabin (1998), Charles King (1990), Lisa Pruitt (1989), and John Edie (1960).

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.