Thomas Dowling, a senior in the political science and history departments, has been named a Rhodes Scholar. He is the first Rhodes Scholar on the Urbana campus since 1998. During his time at the UIUC, Dowling has made considerable contributions to the campus community and the Illinois community at large.
Dowling also created YOUThink Politics, a nonprofit organization, to help educate and engage high school students in the political process; co-founded the campus’s speech and debate team; educated Illinois students about fiscal policy as a campaign manager for Up to Us; and founded an Illinois chapter of the American Enterprise Institute Executive Council.
As a student, Dowling utilized his time at the university to work with some of the department's leading scholars, including James Kuklinski and Jake Bowers. Last year, he was named a Truman Scholar for his dedication to public service and academic excellence. He is also James Scholar with a 4.0 GPA.
At Oxford, Dowling plans to pursue a master’s of public policy. He is committed to effecting change at the local level and plans to return to Illinois, after the completion of his degree, to work to improve the lives of Illinoisans. The Department of Political Sciences is proud to have contributed to the education of such an incredible individual and wishes Dowling the best of luck as he starts the next phase in his academic career.