David Zoltowski Nominated For Rhodes Scholarship
10/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State swimming and diving senior David Zoltowski has been named a nominee for the Rhodes Scholarship. The Spartan captain was one of five MSU students to be nominated for prestigious scholarship awards to undergraduate students around the country.
The Rhodes Trust is the oldest of the major international competitive award foundations. MSU has produced 16 Rhodes Scholars since 1903. The Rhodes trust gives 32 undergraduates the opportunity to study at the University of Oxford in England.
"I am very excited to be nominated," said Zoltowski. "I would love to study at Oxford and I am hoping for an opportunity to interview for the award. I'd like to thank many people, but I'll start with Coach Matt Gianiodis, Jim Pignataro, and Jeremy Flynn for supporting me in both academics and athletics. I'd also like to thank Ashley Green from MSU's National/International Fellowships and Scholarships Office for her encouragement and support in the application process."
"Michigan State is a very unique place to be a student-athlete," said Zoltowski. "The athletic department has high expectations in both athletics and academics. I am very thankful that Coach Gianiodis has supported my research."
A native of West Lafayette, Indiana, Zoltowski is a Big Ten Distinguished Big Ten Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selection. He is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Eta Kappa Nu and an Honors Times Two mentor. The electrical engineering major works with an MSU professor conducting research using advance signal processing tools to study the functional connectivity networks of the human brain.
In March, Zoltowski became the 36th MSU recipient of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. He was also awarded the MSU Honors College National Scholarship, Walter R. Yates Memorial Scholarship and Arthur J. Harris Memorial Scholarship. Once he graduates, he plans to pursue a doctoral degree in electrical engineering, conducting research combining electrical engineering and neuroscience to advance the knowledge of the brain.
"I'm really happy for David because he has worked really hard to get all of this," said Gianiodis. "He is one of the best kids we have had in the history of this athletic department. He really goes above and beyond in everything he does. Michigan State is fortunate to have him as a student, we are fortunate to have him as a swimmer, and our athletic department is very fortunate to have him as an athlete. I'm really holding out hope that he really gets it; it would be great for him. He works hard in the pool and in the classroom, and puts in a lot of hard work with the SAAC committee and with Student-Athlete Support Services. All of the things he is involved with on campus here, he goes 100% all of the time."
A multi-event swimmer for the Spartans, Zoltowski competes in the 200 and 400 individual medley, 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly and 500 freestyle. He finished a career-best 34th overall in the 200 butterfly at the 2013 Big Ten Championships, swimming a personal-best time of 1:53.10. Zoltowski also posted a career-best time of 3:59.69 to place 35th in the 400 individual medley.
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