Two childhood friends from New Brunswick named Rhodes Scholars
Two young women from New Brunswick have won one of the most prestigious and sought-after academic honours in the world.
Not only are Claire Wilbur and Alyssa Xu Rhodes Scholars – they’re also childhood friends.
Wilbur is completing an honours degree in biochemistry from Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., where she has a perfect 4.3 GPA.
She is also captain of the university cross-country team, volunteers with Soldier On campaign, which is a charity working with wounded and ill soldiers and veterans, and is a research assistant at the New Brunswick Heart Centre, where she is studying high-risk cardiac interventions.
Xu is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in neuroscience while writing an honours thesis at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
She is a varsity hockey player and is president of the Amherst chapter of Amnesty International.
Xu also volunteers with a mobile health clinic, and is an EMT for Amherst College Emergency Medical Services.
Both women were born in Saint John, N.B., just a day apart, went to elementary school together and played on some of the same sports teams.
They even carpooled to their interviews with Oxford University as part of the Rhodes Scholarship process.
Both got the good news of their acceptance in a phone call Monday and will begin their studies at Oxford in October 2025.
Nine other Canadian students were also awarded Rhodes Scholarships this year.
“Our eleven Rhodes Scholars deeply impressed the Selection Committees with their intelligence, passion, and most importantly, their humanity,” said Richard Pan, the Canadian secretary for the Rhodes Trust and the chair for the Rhodes Scholarships in Canada, in a Monday news release.
“We need leaders and doers like these in the world. They each carry a profound sense of responsibility to the communities around them and the will to make a difference. As proud as we are of our scholars’ achievements to-date, we are even more excited for their contributions to come.”
Wilbur hopes to pursue a Master of Science in physiology, anatomy, and genetics at Oxford, and Xu is interested in a Master of Science in translational health sciences.
For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
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