News Release

Roswell, Ga., resident Katherine L. McDonough, a junior at The Johns Hopkins University, has won the prestigious Beinecke Scholarship, which defrays the cost of a doctoral education in one of the traditional liberal arts, with an emphasis on the humanities. She is one of 18 students nationwide to be selected for the award this year.

McDonough has spent most of the 2004-2005 academic year studying French history at the Université de Haute Bretagne in Rennes, France, where she is also teaching English to high schoolers at Lycée Emilie Zola. In addition to her studies and duties as an English language teaching assistant, McDonough is conducting independent research in Rennes about the life and motivations of Jean-Baptiste Leclerc, a musician and prominent political figure of the French Revolution.

McDonough is also an accomplished violinist who has played with the Peabody Institute Concert Orchestra and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the American Musicological Society. McDonough also holds a Hodson Trust Scholarship, which is awarded regardless of financial need and is renewable annually with a value of $20,000 per year for up to four years of undergraduate study at Johns Hopkins. Hodson Scholars have demonstrated excellence in their curriculum, extraordinary intellectual curiosity, academic inquisitiveness, and extensive leadership in high school and community activities.

"Katherine combines the very best qualities of a Hopkins student," said John Bader, associate dean for academic programs and advising. "She engages her subject at the highest level. She contributes to her community. She shares her knowledge as teacher and tutor. And she is a world citizen who makes us proud."

The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the board of directors of The Sperry and Hutchinson Co. to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke. The board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young men and women of exceptional promise. The program seeks to encourage and enable highly motivated students to pursue opportunities available to them and to be courageous in the selection of a graduate course of study. Since 1975 the program has selected more than 355 college juniors from 96 different schools for support during graduate study at any accredited university. Each scholar receives $2,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. The last student at Johns Hopkins to receive the award is Barbara K. Fischer, who won in 1992. Information about the award is online at www.beineckescholarship.org/.

McDonough is majoring in history and is minoring in music and French literature. She is the daughter of John McDonough and Juanita Galloway and is a graduate of Roswell High School. To speak with her, contact Amy Cowles at 443-287-9960 or amycowles@jhu.edu.