PHILADELPHIA- Ari Alexander, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, is among 40 American students to win one of the nation's highest undergraduate honors, the 2001 Marshall Scholarship. The British Marshall Scholarship funds two years of graduate study in the United Kingdom. More than 1000 students applied for the scholarship this year.

Alexander, 21, of Providence, R.I., is a senior majoring in American History. During the first year of his Marshall, he will pursue a master of arts degree in comparative ethnic conflict at The Queen's University of Belfast. In his second year he is considering a master of science degree in comparative politics at the London School of Economics.

"It gives me enormous pleasure to extend my congratulations to Ari Alexander, recipient of the distinguished Marshall Scholarship," said Penn President Judith Rodin. "Ari exemplifies the quintessential Penn student: bright, highly motivated and deeply committed to social issues and discourse. He makes all of us proud, and I wish him the best as he embarks on this magnificent journey."

This is the second year in a row that a Penn student has won the prestigious academic award. Last year, Andrew March, won a Marshall and is currently studying for a master of philosophy degree in politics at Oxford University. Since the award's inception 46 years ago, only two other Penn students - Michael Klarman in 1983 and Paul Borgese in 1989- have received a Marshall Scholarship.

At Penn, Alexander founded both "Arab-Jewish Dialogue" and "Confronting Cultural Issues on Campus," organizations created to foster cross-cultural exchange and understanding, and served as co-chair of "Alliance and Understanding," a group devoted to establishing dialogue between the African- American and Jewish communities on campus.

Alexander has also served as the undergraduate student representative to Penn President Rodin's Affirmative Action Council as well as the student consultant to the Penn Public Talks Project.

Named in honor of U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the Scholarship is an expression of Britain's gratitude for economic assistance received through the Marshall Plan after World War II. Funded by the British government and administered by the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Marshall Scholarship Program has become the largest single program for Americans studying in Britain, and one of the most prestigious.