EVANSTON - Senior Anya Yermakova has won a Rhodes Scholarship. A piano student of associate professor James Giles, she is majoring in music performance, biochemistry, and the history of and philosophy of science and logic. Earlier this month she was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to study music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London but declined that opportunity to accept the Rhodes Scholarship.

A native of Buffalo Grove, Yermakova is originally from Russia and emigrated to the U.S. at age 11. Since then she has won national awards for piano and French, and has done research in chemical engineering and nanotechnology, neuroscience and biomedical engineering. She noted that she chose Northwestern because she wanted to go to a university that offered a dual degree program in music and mathematics.  She plans to pursue a doctorate in mathematical biology at Oxford.

Only 32 Rhodes Scholarships are awarded annually; this year there were 767 students nominated by their colleges and universities. The scholarship covers tuition and fees for a student's education in their chosen field, as well as a stipend for living expenses and travel.