U of I student has been named a Rhodes Scholar

CHAMPAIGN — A University of Illinois student is part of this year’s class of Rhodes scholars.

The Rhodes Trust says in a news release that Thomas J. Dowling is one of 32 students from the United States who will receive full financial support to study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Dowling is a senior at the school’s Urbana-Champaign campus pursuing a bachelor’s degrees in political science and history.

Dowling, who’s from Chicago, is a Truman Scholar. He is writing his senior thesis dealing with state legislatures and he was appointed by Champaign’s mayor to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals. He’s also been an intern at the AFL-CIO and the Institute of Government and Public affairs.

At Oxford, he plans to do the masters of public policy.