Beinecke scholars receive $2,000 prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 for graduate study in the arts, humanities or social sciences.

Lowrance plans to pursue a doctorate in English with a focus on medieval and Renaissance literature. He is vice president of Quodlibet, Cornell's undergraduate-graduate medieval studies organization, and is peer adviser in the Cornell Presidential Research Scholars program. He has presented papers at several conferences, most recently at Princeton University's medieval graduate colloquium in April. He also has been awarded a grant by Cornell's Department of Classics to study ancient Greek this summer.

A native of Braintree, Mass., Lowrance says he has a broad interest in "European intellectual history and literature from the Classical period to the early modern period, with particular emphasis on the history of philosophy and aesthetics, lyric poetry, allegory, and theology and religion."

Latin is by no means a dead language for this aspiring scholar. "I started off working in English, but since Latin is the intellectual lingua franca of periods my interests encompass I figured I ought to learn it and in doing so have become increasingly interested in Classical literature and philosophy," he said. "When you work on medieval and Renaissance literature in English -- or any other European language -- Latin is pretty essential."

The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of students with extraordinary academic accomplishments and with a documented history of receiving need-based financial aid as undergraduates. More than 100 institutions are eligible to nominate students.