Wellesley Graduate Named as 2005 Rhodes Scholar: Elizabeth Masiello '03

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.

Heather Long '04, 2004 Rhodes Scholar

Heather Long '04 was named a 2004 Rhodes Scholar. Chosen through a rigorous three-stage process including an endorsement from Wellesley and selection on a state and regional level, she competed with 963 U.S. applicants, of whom 32 won the honor. Rhodes Scholars are selected based on high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, leadership potential, and physical vigor.

Long was thrilled to learn of the highly prestigious award, saying, "It feels like you won the Publisher's Clearinghouse Award for academics. You never think you are going to get it but when you do you are in shock for a couple of days. It's wonderful. I'm particularly interest in studying medieval literature, and I am excited to go to Oxford and study their extensive collection."

Long is especially gratified by the honor since reading didn't come easily to her. She suffered from learning disabilities and didn't learn to read until fourth or fifth grade.

"So many people have helped me out in my life, particularly my teachers," she said. "My fifth-grade teacher finally saw through it and actually suggested I might be gifted. I always wanted to give back to people and my teacher just said to me, 'Pass it on, just pass it on.'"

Long has passed on the love of learning ever since, particularly as a volunteer with women behind bars. "A huge part of my Rhodes application was on working in the prison system," she says. Long began working at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute as a first-year student, helping prisoners produce publications and establishing a student volunteer organization, the Wellesley Book Club.

"Literature helps them learn how to think critically," she said. "Only about 50 percent have graduated from high school but many of these women applied to the prison's college program after learning to think in a deeper way. It's been great to encourage people to go on in their own studies."

"At Wellesley, the mind never sleeps."

Regarding her overall experience at Wellesley, Long says, "There are no narrow people at Wellesley. Here, people are passionate about many things and they excel in areas as diverse as biological research and music performance or the crew team and Medieval Studies. I was drawn to Wellesley because of its intellectual culture. I've stayed in the dining halls until they close talking with friends who have diverse viewpoints about national elections, medical ethics, the Iraqi war, great viola works, and the modern African novel. I've even been in classes where the debates over Chaucerian works were so interesting and rich that the class decided to meet an extra hour each week! At Wellesley, the mind never sleeps.

"In my own admissions search, I recall reading about the experiences of Wellesley graduate Laura Tavares '98, also a Rhodes Scholar. She wrote about her experiences studying Quichua in Ecuador and then returning to Wellesley where her professors helped her further her studies of ancient Quichua texts, even though it wasn't part of the curriculum. I've had the same experiences where my professors are excited about new areas of intellectual inquiry. As an economics and English major, I've developed a passion for finding economic concepts in literary works, and instead of laughing at me, my English professors not only encourage me to find links between my majors but send me relevant scholarly articles whenever they come across one.

"Wellesley also supports students outside the classroom. Thanks to generous donations from Wellesley alumnae, I was able to jump start an initiative at MCI-Framingham women's prison where Wellesley students teach literature to the inmates."

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Page Created: December 17, 2003
Last Modified: April 26, 2005
Page Expires: December 30, 2006