Two anticipate degrees in physics, environment as Rhodes Scholars: U, Augsburg students among 32 U.S. winners

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov 24, 2008 (Pioneer Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A University of Minnesota physics student who is also a pole vaulter and an Augsburg College chemistry student who likes to brew beer were named Sunday as Rhodes Scholars.

U senior Ashley Lynne Nord, of Rapid City, S.D., and Brian Krohn, a Cloquet resident who will be graduating from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, were among 32 American college students given the prestigious academic award this year. It pays all expenses for two to three years of study at the University of Oxford in England.

This year, 769 candidates were endorsed by American schools for the award, valued at about $50,000 a year. Winners are chosen based on criteria including academic achievement, integrity, unselfishness, potential for leadership and physical vigor.

Krohn, 22, is Augsburg's first Rhodes Scholar. But this isn't the first time he's made news for the school.

Earlier this year, Krohn appeared on "Good Morning America," the ABC morning news show, and briefed U.S. Senate and House committees after a research project he worked on with his college adviser and an Anoka company came up with a new way to make biodiesel fuel out of non-food stock like algae or waste oil.

"It can utilize virtually any oil for feed stock and it can do it very cleanly and very cheaply," said Krohn, who shares the patent for the process.

The new process will be used in a $5 million demonstration plant being built in Isanti, Minn., that can produce 3 million gallons of fuel a year.

Krohn is

the youngest of son of Tim Krohn, a forester and mapmaker, and Mary Krohn, a chemist and paper mill manager. His older brother is a computer engineer and his older sister is a medical student.

Krohn said he initially went to Augsburg to major in film studies but switched to chemistry because he missed science. His activities at Augsburg range from founding an academic journal for undergraduate scholarship to organizing a student initiative to get Augsburg to use a hybrid vehicle for its security personnel and helping the school to get its electricity from wind power instead of coal.

He's juggled at a campus medieval festival and volunteered in Biloxi, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina. His interest in beer brewing led to the creation of an Honors Brewing Class that studied the history, culture and science of beer.

"He's really just a renaissance talent," said Bob Groven, director of the honors program at Augsburg.

"He's a very grounded person," said Dixie Shafer, Augsburg's director of undergraduate research.

"Augsburg allows for growth and experimentation because it's such a small school," Krohn said of his college, which has an enrollment of about 3,800 students. "I probably wouldn't have applied for a Rhodes Scholarship if I hadn't gone to Augsburg."

Krohn plans to get a master of science degree in environmental change and management at Oxford.

Nord, 23, will be graduating from the U with a bachelor of arts degree in global studies with a minor in Spanish studies and a bachelor of science degree in physics and astrophysics.

She plans to pursue a doctorate in condensed matter physics at Oxford with a goal of working in biophysics.

During her undergraduate career, Nord researched astronomy at the University of Hawaii and biophysics at UCLA.

Nord said an older brother who has a doctorate in astrophysics and her father, a family physician and amateur astronomer in Rapid City, S.D., kindled her interest in astrophysics.

Her interest in biophysics was sparked when a doctor explained the principles behind the imaging technology used to examine an ankle she fractured in high school.

Nord, a high school gymnast, switched to pole vaulting in college. The 5-foot-9 athlete was a member of the Gopher track and field team from 2003 to 2008 and placed in several Big 10 championships.

Nord said she plans to pole vault for Oxford, which she said has the oldest track team in the world.

Richard Chin can be reached at 651-228-5560.

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