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April 27, 2006

Student named Pitt’s first Churchill scholar

The first Pitt student to be nominated for a Churchill Scholarship has become one of 11 Americans nationwide chosen for the academic honor. Senior Clayton Magill, an Arts and Sciences student majoring in chemistry and geology with a minor in German, has been named a Churchill Scholar by the Winston Churchill Foundation.

The award offers American students of exceptional ability and outstanding academic achievement the opportunity to pursue one year of graduate studies in engineering, mathematics or the sciences at Churchill College, University of Cambridge.

Colleges and universities are invited to participate based on their strength in science, mathematics and technology. This is the first year Pitt was invited to participate. Invited schools may nominate up to two candidates, but Magill was Pitt’s sole nominee.

Magill is completing a Bachelor of Philosophy degree this month. He is interested in the multidisciplinary paleo-environmental study of lake sediments from the Limnes Basin in western Crete and plans to study quaternary science at Churchill College.

Magill’s research has included independent work in chemistry, in which he investigated chemical processes in the brain to learn more about Parkinson’s disease. He also conducted fieldwork in Greece using geochemistry to study environmental variability to address threats to the environment.

His work was directed by faculty members Adrian Michael, chemistry, and Michael Rosenmeier, geology and planetary sciences.

Magill is an accomplished cyclist and in high school competed as one of the top-ranked junior cyclists in a national off-road mountain bike competition.

He volunteers for a number of organizations, including Jubilee Soup Kitchen, Point Prevention Pittsburgh, Children’s Hospital, the Free Ride and Pitt’s Saturday Science program.


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