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Paul Taylor
Professor Kevin Bedell was a bit taken aback when a first-year student approached him, asking to bypass freshman physics. Skipping over the class is discouraged, even for students who come in with advanced placement credit, Bedell told the student. But the freshman persisted and, finally, the professor relented. Now, says Bedell, “when I write a letter of recommendation I mention that Paul was smart enough not to take my advice.” The student was Paul Taylor, one of Boston College’s first two Rhodes Scholars. This year, he heads to Oxford to study astrophysics after an illustrious Boston College career that included various awards, including a Goldwater Scholarship, earmarked for superior science and math students. But the aspiring physicist is far from one-dimensional. He captained the University’s fencing team, holds a patent related to a statistical process for MRIs, was named volunteer of the year at a Boston soup kitchen, and received the top Commencement honor, the Finnegan Award for a graduating senior who best exemplifies the University’s motto, “Ever to Excel.” He reads Dumas and watches kung fu movies, enjoys medieval history, and completed a summer internship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Taylor calls his dual major in physics and classics “a sanitizing balance,” not unlike the equilibrium he creates among the other competing facets of his life. Taylor’s diverse pursuits helped him with Rhodes interviews, where he was asked questions on Fermi liquids and fencing, on whether he’d rather be a woman in ancient Greek or Roman society, and on the classical text he would recommend to President Bush. It was Plato’s The Republic. Taylor’s potential was spotted early, when he was invited to join the University’s Presidential Scholars Program, a full-tuition honors curriculum that requires summer programs, international travel, and community service, and offers frequent workshops and lectures designed to nurture leadership skills. “Ever since he was a freshman, he knew what he wanted to do,” says Bedell. “It was pretty clear he was exceptional.” Bedell, the professor who had discouraged him from skipping freshman physics, didn’t hesitate to admit Taylor to “Mathematical Physics,” a graduate-level course. The physics professor believes so strongly in Taylor that he suggested he consider Anthony Leggett as a role model. Leggett won a Nobel Prize in physics this year, but his early studies focused on the classics. Photo: Paul Taylor in the Flynn Recreation Complex. |
