Two Yale College students — who have both excelled academically and demonstrated a commitment to social impact — have received 2025 Rhodes scholarships, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious academic awards for graduate study. The scholarships provide comprehensive funding for two to three years of study at the University of Oxford.

Angelin Mathew, from Davie, Florida, is among 32 American recipients, the Rhodes Trust announced on Nov. 16. Chriss Tuyishime, who is from Rwanda, is among the international recipients.

The Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States join an international group of scholars chosen from 25 other Rhode Scholar jurisdictions (which include more than 70 countries) around the world, and two global scholars from countries in the world without their own scholarship. More than 100 Rhodes Scholars will be selected worldwide this year, including several who have attended American colleges and universities but who are not U.S. citizens and who have applied through their home country.

All of the scholars will begin graduate study at Oxford, across a range of disciplines, beginning in October 2025.

Created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes scholarships are provided in partnership with the Second Century Founders, John McCall MacBain O.C., the Atlantic Philanthropies, and many other benefactors. Applicants are chosen on the basis of criteria that include, “first and fundamentally, academic excellence,” said Ramona L. Doyle, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, in announcing the 32 U.S. winners. Rhodes scholars, Doyle added, should also have ambition for social impact and an uncommon ability to work with others to achieve one’s goals.

“A Rhodes Scholar should show great promise of leadership and character as well as an exceptionally strong commitment to service,” Doyle said.

Mathew, a senior studying molecular biology and humanities (comparative Buddhist-Christian theology), is part of the Jackson School’s Global Health Studies program. She grew up in South Florida and spent summers in Kerala, a state on the southwestern coast of India, where her family is originally from. She was shaped by the cultural and religious diversity of both settings. Mathew has led internationally recognized research projects on socio-demographic disparities in the location of death, cancer treatment affordability, and emerging technologies improving the care of terminally ill patients. She has found her calling in palliative care and is currently working at the intersection of spirituality and medicine. She founded the Existential Flourishing Network, a global initiative to understand religious beliefs about preparing for a good death and the afterlife. She is also the founder and CEO of Forever Kin, a startup that creates self-care products, in honor of a friend’s legacy.

Mathew also cares deeply about youth empowerment. She has helped organize a Model UN conference in Korea, dances in Yale Kalaa, served on the Yale College Council Health Policy team, and volunteers with the HAVEN Free Clinic.

At Oxford, she will pursue an M.St. in the study of religions and an M.Sc. in medical anthropology.

Tuyishime, a senior who is majoring in ethics, politics, and economics (EP&E) and who holds a certificate in global health studies, expects to graduate in December. For his Global Health Studies requirements, he contributed to a policy brief on sustainable investment in the African pharmaceutical industry, which was published by the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs and submitted to a senior official at the African Development Bank. He is currently writing a senior thesis about Rwanda’s use of innovative aid modalities to complete his EP&E degree requirements.

Throughout his academic, professional, and extracurricular work, Tuyishime has been deeply driven by a commitment to his community. Whether serving as a college prep tutor in Rwanda, a marine student explorer in France, or a summer law intern in Washington, D.C., he has pursued global learning experiences and repatriates the lessons and resources he acquired. Wherever he goes, he carries the stories of his home in Rwanda and beyond. As a Rhodes scholar, he aims to continue this calling: to be another connection between his community and the world in the fight for a better, shared future.

At Oxford, he hopes to pursue master’s degrees in translational health sciences and in public policy.

“We are so proud of our Global Health Scholars, Angelin and Chriss. They have flourished during their time in the Global Health Studies Program, deepening their interdisciplinary knowledge and remaining committed to applying innovative research to health practice and policy,” said Global Health Studies program faculty leaders Catherine Panter-Brick and Cara Fallon in a joint statement. 

“They will contribute so much to their future communities at Oxford University, with Angelin in religious studies and medical anthropology and Chriss in translational health sciences and public policy. Many congratulations from the Global Health Studies program at Jackson!”

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