Two students nominated for Winston Churchill Scholarship

LAWRENCE — Two students at the University of Kansas are nominees for the Winston Churchill Scholarship, which provides one year of study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Christopher Rooney, senior in physics and astronomy, and Kevin Tenny, senior in chemical engineering, will compete for the award after being selected by a committee coordinated by the University Honors Program.

The Winston Churchill Foundation annually awards scholarships in honor of Sir Winston Churchill. Up to 15 scholarships will be awarded in this year’s national competition. 

KU is the only institution in Kansas on the approved list of colleges and universities in the U.S. that may nominate students for the award. Each participant university may nominate only two candidates for the scholarship. The award gives winners the opportunity to pursue study in fields in the sciences, engineering or mathematics. The award will lead to a Master of Philosophy or a Master of Advanced Study.

Finalists will be selected and interviewed in January and the scholars announced shortly thereafter. 

Former KU student Larissa Lee won a Churchill Scholarship in 1999. 

Christopher Rooney is the son of Marijo and Davis Rooney of Hays. He has conducted research for over two years with Hume Feldman, professor of physics & astronomy, studying the large-scale structure of the universe through high-performance computing. A member of the University Honors Program, he is active in the scholarship hall community as president of Battenfeld Hall and treasurer of All Scholarship Hall Council, and he plays the cello. Last summer, he studied abroad through the British Summer Institute in the Humanities.

Kevin Tenny is the son of Robert and Karen Tenny of Leawood. He is majoring in chemical engineering and has worked in the labs of Michael Detamore and Trung Nguyen, both professors of chemical & petroleum engineering at KU. In addition, he has completed two summer National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates programs at Iowa State University and at the University of South Carolina and a third internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research goals are focused on electrochemical engineering. He is a member of the KU Student Senate. A member of the University Honors Program, he has received KU certifications in service learning, the Global Awareness Program and the Research Experience Program. In 2016, he was named a Goldwater Scholar.