Cadet named Rhodes Scholar

  • Published
  • U.S. Air Force Academy
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Cadet 1st Class Brittany Morreale was awarded one of 32 Rhodes Scholarships for 2010.

Morreale, from Palos Verdes Estates, near Los Angeles, Calif., is a senior at the U.S. Air Force Academy majoring in physics. A member of the Academy's Scholar's Program, she is 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 exchange student in Japan for the past two summers and during the Spring Semester of 2009.

"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.

Morreale is the Academy's 36th recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship.

"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.

The Air Force Academy was recently named best baccalaureate college in the west for the third year in a row by the U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2010 rankings. Boasting a top flight engineering program, the Academy has a student-faculty ratio of 9:1, and an average class size of 20.

All faculty members are full-time, and zero classes are taught by teaching assistants.

The Academy is a four-year bachelor of science degree university. Its mission is to educate, train and inspire men and women to become officers of character motivated to lead the U.S. Air Force in service to our nation. All graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force. For more information on the Academy, visit www.usafa.af.mil.