Arizona State student awarded scholarship to study in the U.K.
Dec 8, 2017, 5:30 AM
Frank Smith has won a prestigious Marshall Scholarship that will allow him to pursue a master's degree at Oxford University in the U.K. (ASU Photo)
(ASU Photo)
PHOENIX – Arizona State senior Frank Smith III was one of 43 U.S. students awarded the Marshall Scholarship to pursue a graduate degree in the United Kingdom.
Majoring in political science and public policy at Arizona State, Smith will use the scholarship to pursue a Master of Philosophy in comparative social policy at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2018.
Funded by the British government, the Marshall Scholarship was created in 1953 as a gesture from the U.K. government to the U.S. for its assistance in Europe’s economic recovery after World War II. The scholarship is awarded to at least 40 U.S. students each year.
“If you would have told me years ago that I would be in this position today, I would never have believed it,” Smith said to Arizona State.
Smith’s path to Arizona State was not the easiest. He explained that his mother suffered from substance abuse and his stepfather was abusive, causing him to live in 27 different foster homes during his childhood.
At 17, he was taken in by a relative and excelled from there.
Smith enrolled in Arizona State as an Armstrong Scholar, Obama Scholar, a Spirit of Service Scholar and a Nina Mason Pulliam Scholar. He became the youngest student body president ever at Arizona State’s Downtown Phoenix campus.
In 2016, he was a field organizer in Grand Rapids, Mich. for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and is currently a policy adviser for David Garcia (D-Ariz.), who is running for governor of Arizona.
He also played a role in the passing of the Foster Care Tuition Waiver, which waives tuition at Arizona colleges for children in foster care.
Smith said he will take his experiences and incorporate them into his studies at the United Kingdom’s oldest university.
“I want to be a role model for foster children and show them they can hope for something better and achieve it,” he said.
The University of Oxford has evidence of teaching dating back to 1096 and was recently ranked as the top university in the world by Times Higher Education.
