Elizabeth Masiello '03 is Wellesley's Ninth Rhodes Scholar

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Elizabeth "Betsy" Masiello, Wellesley College Class of 2003, has been named one of 32 Rhodes Scholars chosen from the U.S. this year. A computer science major and economics minor at Wellesley, Masiello is pursuing graduate studies in the Technology and Policy Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the ninth Wellesley College student to win the prestigious honor since women were allowed to apply in 1976.

At MIT Masiello is studying the economic and technical aspects of authentication technologies and their impact on security. In her honors thesis at Wellesley, she argued that biometric surveillance threatens to erode anonymity even though the technology does not function very well.

“The Rhodes Scholarship is an incredible honor and opportunity,” said Masiello. “I feel very fortunate to have been awarded this honor that will allow me to build on work that I began at Wellesley and have continued at MIT. I am certainly most grateful to the many professors and classmates at Wellesley who challenged and inspired me throughout college and who continue today to offer encouragement and guidance. The most valuable learning happens away from the classroom and books in our interactions with others and our shared experiences - I've been blessed both at MIT and at Wellesley to be surrounded by amazing people and feel I can never thank them enough.“

In addition to her academic work, Masiello excelled outside the Wellesley classroom. She was a four-time All-American field hockey player, a stand-out lacrosse player, a First-Year Mentor, and a student liaison to the Committee on Faculty Appointments.

Masiello continues to use athletics as a vehicle for contributing to her community. Last year, she founded Team Up 4 Education, a volunteer organization for mentoring high school athletes at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in Cambridge, Mass. She also coaches high school field hockey players in the United States Field Hockey Olympic Development Program.

The Rhodes scholarship will support Masiello's study for two years at the University of Oxford. There she plans to study economics and interact with researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, a multi-disciplinary research center examining the technical, economic, social, political, and legal implications of the Internet.

At Oxford, she will join fellow Wellesley alumna, Heather Long, class of 2004, who was named a Rhodes Scholar last year.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal-arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries. For more information, go to www.wellesley.edu.

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