Rhodes College senior Johnathan Burch from Heath Springs, SC, is among the United States finalists to be interviewed for the highly coveted Rhodes Scholarship. The scholarship is the oldest and perhaps the best-known international fellowship program, which enables exceptional young people from around the world to study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Candidates, who are nominated by their respective colleges or universities, first must complete an extensive application process. Finalists are then selected to be interviewed in U.S. districts or regions. From these interviews, typically 32 individuals from the U.S. are elected as Rhodes Scholars, and the announcement is made before the Thanksgiving holiday. Other countries announce their elected scholars at various times.
Burch, who is pursuing a political science and health equity double major, is a 2026 recipient of another prestigious award—the Truman Scholarship, which is the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the United States. As a 2025 Douglass-O'Connell Global Intern, he gained experience working for the Irish Innocence Project in Dublin, Ireland, conducting legal and comparative constitutional research.
Born and raised in Charlotte, NC, and a graduate of David W. Butler High School, Burch came to Rhodes as a Posse Foundation Scholar dedicated to developing his leadership skills. He currently is a Student Trustee and served as Rhodes Student Government President during the 2025-2026 academic year. He also has competed at the national level with the Rhodes College mock trial team.
Burch has worked as a Rhodes Diplomat, Peer Assistant, and an Office of Admission student associate. Alongside his coursework, he completed a clinical quality improvement intern at Church Health, which allowed him to connect with the Memphis community and serve the uninsured.
He aspires to have a career in health care policy and law with an emphasis on bereavement and mental health care and support. This past summer, he was a DSIP Public Health Research Intern at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he conducted 210 hours of bereavement and mental health research. Additionally, Burch co-authored two manuscripts pending publication with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Faculty Research Mentors.
If awarded the Rhodes Scholarship, he plans to further this kind of significant research at the University of Oxford.