Princeton University student, recent graduate, granted Marshall Scholarships

   A Princeton University senior majoring in mathematics and a 2005 university alumnus now studying in Syria have been awarded 2006 Marshall Scholarships for graduate study in England, the university has announced.
   Math major Allison Bishop and Princeton alumnus Yusufi Vali are among 43 people from U.S. colleges and universities to win the prestigious awards, which cover the cost of living and studying at a British university of the recipient’s choice for two to three years.
   Ms. Bishop will pursue a certificate of advanced study in mathematics and begin doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. Mr. Vali will attend the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where he will pursue a master’s degree in Islamic studies.
   The Marshall Scholarships were established in 1953 as a British gesture to the United States for the assistance received after World War II under the Marshall Plan. The scholarships are awarded to American students who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership potential.
   Ms. Bishop won the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence and a Goldwater Scholarship for outstanding undergraduates interested in careers in mathematics, science or engineering.
   She has participated in summer research programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the National Security Agency as well as a summer program for women in mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
   Mr. Vali graduated from Princeton last spring with a degree in Near Eastern studies and is spending this year in Syria on a Fulbright fellowship conducting research on Sufis there. He plans to pursue a career in human rights in the Islamic world.
   At Princeton, he won the Near Eastern Studies Department’s F.O. Kelsey Prize for the best junior paper and the T. Cuyler Young Prize for the best senior thesis in Iranian studies. He also helped organize a series of conferences on Afghanistan for the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination.