Brown University senior Thomas Politano named one of nation’s 32 Rhodes Scholars

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - Thomas S. Politano, a Brown University senior from Lynn, Massachusetts, was selected to the Rhodes Scholar Class of 2027 on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The Rhodes Scholarship, widely considered to be one of the most prestigious academic awards available to undergraduate students, provides 32 recipients funding to cover all expenses for two or three years of graduate study at the University of Oxford in England.

At Brown, Politano is pursuing a concentration in English, with a particular research interest in British modernist literature, especially the works of Virginia Woolf.

He tutors at Hope High School in Providence with the Brown Tutoring Corps, a collaboration between the Annenberg Institute and Swearer Center for Public Service in which Brown University students partner with school leaders to design and lead tailored tutoring programs for local students. As a 2025-26 Writing Fellow at the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, Politano partnered with faculty to provide students with feedback, advice and encouragement on their writing in progress. He also serves as an editor and proofreader at the Brown Film Magazine and formerly played violin with the Salem Philharmonic Orchestra.

A student of Mandarin, Politano completed the Princeton in Beijing program last summer.

At Oxford, Politano will pursue a master's degree in English. He is also interested in studying Chinese literature comparatively or alongside English, and will follow his first master's degree with a second master's program in world literatures in English.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen based on their academic records, as well as their leadership, personal qualities and demonstrated commitment to the betterment of society. Applicants are first endorsed by their college or university. This year, over 3,000 students sought their institution's endorsement, with 1,006 ultimately endorsed by 281 different colleges and universities. Selection committees in each of 16 U.S. districts invite the strongest applicants for interviews, and each committee makes a final selection of two Rhodes Scholars from the candidates of the states within the district.

Politano and 31 other U.S. Rhodes Scholars will join an international group of scholars from more than a dozen countries around the world. They will begin studies at Oxford in October 2027.

This is a developing story and will be updated.