Henderson student a Rhodes Scholar

Monday, Dec. 7, 1998 | 11:12 a.m.

For many years, Ryan Max Rowberry has had a curiosity about everything medieval -- from double bladed axes to the writings and language of the period.

The Henderson resident's job on the campus of Brigham Young University, where he maintains a 4.0 grade point average, is to help a professor decipher the early works of Geoffrey Chaucer from old English.

It was Rowberry's desire to study the original manuscripts of the 14th century English poet in England that impressed a panel of scholars to select him as a Rhodes Scholar. He was one of 32 American college students so honored Saturday.

"He wanted to be able to get to the artifacts in England to further his studies on Anglo Saxon history, including the weapons of war, the literature and the language," said Janis Rowberry, Ryan's mother.

"Ryan has always had a desire to learn. He is very people-oriented. He teaches others what he has learned. He is very much focused and very much a team player, a unifier and a leader."

Born in Ogden, Utah, Rowberry is one of seven children, five of whom attend BYU. He is a 23-year-old senior.

Rowberry is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father is David Rowberry, the institute director for the LDS Church at UNLV, where he has taught religious studies since 1993. Ryan served his two-year Mormon mission in Hamburg, Germany, and speaks fluent German.

Rowberry was a standout athlete and scholar at Range View High School in Aurora, Colo., where he played on the basketball team, was one of the state's top triple jumpers on the track team and was class valedictorian in 1993.

He moved with his family to Henderson that year and shortly thereafter received a full scholarship to BYU.

Rowberry learned late Saturday that he had become a Rhodes Scholar. He will receive a two-year, all-expense-paid education at prestigious Oxford University, where Chaucer, who wrote the "Canterbury Tales," attended, possibly in the 1360s.

"Ryan called us shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday and said he had bad news and good news," Janis said. "The bad news was that BYU lost (the Western Athletic Conference football championship to Air Force that day in Las Vegas, a game his parents attended).

"The good news was that he would have to start packing for England."

Rowberry will graduate from BYU in April and begin his studies at Oxford in September, his mother said. One of his sisters attends Green Valley High School, the other attends Greenspun Junior High School, both in Henderson.

The Rhodes scholarships is the oldest of the international study awards available to American students. They were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and colonial pioneer.

With Saturday's selections, 2,854 American students have won Rhodes scholarships since the first selection in 1903.

The 32 recipients were chosen from 909 applicants endorsed by 310 colleges and universities. Ninety-six applicants from 67 colleges and universities reached the final stage of the competition, said Elliott Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.