SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College President Benjamin B. Dunlap has selected Jonathan Douglas Hufford, a rising senior from Oxford, Ohio, as the 24th Presidential International Scholar, the college’s innovative program that allows one student to travel throughout the academic year to developing countries researching an independent project.

The announcement was made Tuesday (May 6, 2008) at the annual spring Honors Convocation, held in Leonard Auditorium. Departmental awards and other special recognitions also were made during the event to honor 2008 graduates, who will receive their diplomas on Sunday, May 18, in a ceremony on the lawn of Main Building.

The Presidential International Scholar is chosen personally each year by Wofford’s president as “the singular student best fitted to benefit humankind.” An anonymous donor funds the scholarship. The scholar spends his or her senior year visiting developing countries around the world and conducting research on an independent study project, returning for a fifth year to complete regular coursework and sharing what was learned during the travels.

“Jonathan Hufford is quiet, unassuming, brilliant, intrepid and adventurous,” Dunlap says. “He is also deeply committed to helping others. I can think of no one more likely to benefit humankind in the course of his future career.

Hufford, a native of Oxford, entered Wofford in September 2005 as the recipient of a National Merit Scholarship and a Benjamin Wofford Scholarship. He is an offensive guard on the Terriers football team and is a player on the Wofford Quiz Bowl team. He serves as vice chair of the Judicial Commission and as president of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

Hufford also is active in the Spartanburg community as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department. A scientist and a writer, he has received multiple research grants as well as the first prize in the 2008 “Beyond the City’s Northern Border” essay contest. He is majoring in biology with an emphasis in computational science. Upon graduation, he plans to pursue a medical degree and Ph.D. to build a career as a physician and biomedical researcher.

Hufford recently was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa at Wofford.

He becomes the fourth student-athlete at Wofford to be named the Presidential International Scholar. Neill Sandifer ’07 and William King Jr. ’95 participated in men’s soccer and Andrew Green ’94 played football.