PHILADELPHIA Lipika Goyal, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, is among 32 American recipients of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships for 2001, the Rhodes Scholarship Trust announced Saturday. She will spend two years studying at the University of Oxford in England, courtesy of the Rhodes Trust.

Some 950 American students from 327 colleges and universities applied for this year Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest international study award available to Americans.

Goyal, 21, a biological studies major focusing on the biological basis of behavior, is a resident of Scotch Plains, N.J. At Oxford, she plans to pursue an M.Phil. in developmental studies, a program entailing study of the economies, history, social anthropology and politics of developing nations.

Goyal previous research has led her to spend the past two summers in developing nations. She studied zinc deficiencies among the residents of slums in New Delhi, examining the feasibility of a national program to distribute zinc supplements. She also spent six weeks in Ghana, working with two Penn scientists researching malaria and sickle cell anemia.

A University Scholar at Penn, Goyal hopes eventually to become a medical doctor and to pursue a career in international public health. She is president of the John Morgan Pre-Health Society, Penn association of pre-medical students, and a hospital volunteer and active participant in Habitat for Humanity.

Created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil B. Rhodes, the Rhodes Scholarship is awarded on the basis of high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership and physical vigor. Rhodes wrote that recipients should "esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim."

Rhodes Scholarships pay studentstuition and provide a stipend to cover transportation costs and living expenses while in Oxford. The average award is approximately $27,000 per year.

Including the 2001 recipients, 2,918 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships since the first selection in 1903, including President Bill Clinton, U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. American recipients join students from other nations for a total of roughly 95 new Rhodes Scholars worldwide each year.

Additional information is available at the Rhodes Scholarship Trust web site, www.rhodesscholar.org.