Introducing McGill's 116th Rhodes Scholar

Astrid Christoffersen-Deb is one of two Quebecers en route to Oxford University

McGill medical student Astrid-Christoffersen-Deb has just been named the University’s latest Rhodes Scholar. A Montreal-West resident, Christoffersen-Deb intends to study politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University in 2001, upon graduating from McGill next June.

Christoffersen-Deb says her Rhodes Scholarship will be the perfect preparation for her ultimate career goal: to work as a doctor in developing countries. "Studying in philosophy, politics and economics will provide me with the foundation I’ll need to help build societies and advocate for others," she says, adding her Rhodes-sharpened skills could even assist in securing future employment with humanitarian groups including Médecins Sans Frontières or UNICEF. "I expect being a Rhodes Scholar will be like starting a new life."

Journalists requiring more information on Ms. Christoffersen-Deb should consult the Dec. 7 edition of the McGill Reporter at: www.mcill.ca/reporter. She can also be contacted directly in Denmark, where she is currently vacationing, at 011-45-39-62-2916 or 011-45-45-41-1200.

Some of the organizations where Christoffersen-Deb has volunteered during her time at McGill include:

• Chair of the WHO Health Assembly at McGill Model United Nations Conference.
• President of the United Nations Student Association of McGill University.
I>dmissions committee member for McGill’s Faculty of Medicine.
• She also founded the Bedtime Stories Program at the Montreal Children’s Hospital in 1999, where volunteers regularly read stories to patients. The program was created, she says, "to use storytelling as a way of creating a world where these children can exist without the threat of suffering."
• Christofferson-Deb is the recipient of the YMCA Young Woman of Distinction Award (Year 2000).

Quebec’s other 2001 Rhodes Scholar is Vincent Bouchard, a second-year physics student at l’Université de Montréal.