In the year to come, a bevy of Cornell's best and brightest will study not high above Cayuga's waters, but along the Isis -- as the River Thames is known in Oxford, England. Just last December, three Cornell students won prestigious Rhodes and Marshall scholarships for study in Oxford's hallowed halls, and now another has learned he will head there in October on a Keasbey Scholarship.

Andrew T. Chrisomalis, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences from Oradell, N. J., is one of only four American students this year to receive the coveted Keasbey, which provides for two years of study at Oxford and other select British universities. A dozen U.S. colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton, participate in the competition on a rotating basis; Cornell can nominate students every three years. Chrisomalis is the fifth Cornell student to be named a Keasbey Scholar since the university began participating in the competition in 1979. He will be studying at Oxford's Balliol College.

The Keasbey Scholarship derives from a bequest made in the 1950s by the late Marguerite A. Keasbey, the daughter of a successful businessman in Pennsylvania who spent much of her early life in Great Britain, to benefit British and American students.

The nomination process is an extensive one, involving many Cornell advisers and administrators. Each college dean can recommend up to three applicants to the universitywide Keasbey Endorsement Selection Committee, which after intensive review recommends three students to the Keasbey Foundation Selection Committee in Philadelphia. The committee's criteria are: outstanding academic record, leadership in university activities, appropriate and well-researched proposal for study in Britain, ability to serve as an ambassador for the United States and the Keasbey Foundation and ability to participate fully in the life of a British university.

In short, Keasbey Scholars are well-rounded. As a College Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences, Chrisomalis has crafted an interdisciplinary curriculum with a focus on government and the media. Fascinated by the interplay of politics and press, he has worked as an intern in the office of former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley and in the White House Press Office (where late one night the president himself, fresh from a swim, told Chrisomalis that whatever he was working on could wait and that he should go home).

Chrisomalis' many extracurricular activities at Cornell include chairing the Senior Class Gift Campaign and working out in Cornell's Judo Club (he has a brown belt).

E. W. Kelley, professor of government and Chrisomalis' primary adviser, said, "To get awards like the Keasbey, you need to show not just a capacity to study independently, but also interdisciplinarily. Andrew's being a College Scholar tells you he's chosen that route. One thing people like Andrew have in common is their curiosity about diverse things; there's kind of an intellectual adventurousness there."

Communications Professor J. Paul Yarbrough, Chrisomalis' other adviser, has been particularly impressed by his student's senior thesis. "He has been examining how evolving media technologies are affecting coverage of U.S. presidents, and that has really required having to dig for information," Yarbrough said. "He has demonstrated to me that he is extremely capable of working on his own and pursuing his own ideas, which is important for attending Oxford, where there's a strong emphasis on the individual student and his or her drive to acquire knowledge."

Chrisomalis already is familiar with the Oxford environment, having spent his junior year there through Cornell Abroad. "I certainly knew I wanted to apply to study back at Oxford, and that's why I applied through these various fellowships," he said. (Chrisomalis also applied for Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.)

"The tutorial system at Oxford is ideally suited to my intellectual needs and expectations," he said. "It's very geared toward independent learning, one-on-one, and that's where I think I do my best and enjoy myself the most."

He added, "Besides being academically what I'm looking for, the environment there is socially very stimulating. "It's a very international community, and I'm looking forward to continuing upon the relationships I've established."