The 2021 winners of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship were recently announced. One of the 32 Americans named a Rhodes Scholar started his educational journey in the Cobb County School District. Samuel E. Patterson graduated from Walton High School in 2017. Before that, he attended Dickerson Middle School and Mt. Bethel Elementary School.

“We at Walton are incredibly proud of Sam and are thankful to have been a small part of his journey. Sam was a fantastic student both in the classroom and how he contributed to the school. He enjoyed learning all subjects, excelled in our Orchestra program, and was a leader in our Student Government Association. Sam is well-deserving of this honor and opportunity,” praised Dr. Catherine Mallanda, Walton High School principal. 

Walton orchestra teacher, Dr. Perry Holbrook, could not think of a more deserving student than Sam.

“Sam Patterson was simply one the most motivated students I ever taught,” Dr. Holbrook explained. “After auditions his senior year, Sam placed into my second orchestra. Besides attending this class, he showed up to rehearsal for our top group, asking to listen since it was his lunch hour.  After a few days, I noticed that he was practicing that music before and after school.”

As a result of Sam’s determination to succeed, he eventually attained a “firm grasp on everything they were playing in both orchestras,” which convinced his orchestra teacher to promote him to the top group.

“During rehearsal, I asked him if he would like to join us [in the top group], as I was officially adding him to the roster. I will never forget the smile on his face,” Dr. Holbrook recalled. 

That determination is how Dr. Holbrook will always remember his former student.

Now, as an accomplished musician, Sam is the music director of a community organization and plays upright and electric jazz bass. 

Walton’s Rhodes Scholar is currently a senior at the University of Maryland, where he will receive a B.S. in Mathematics, a B.S. in Statistics, and a B.A. in Economics. Like so many students at Walton, service to the community has been part of Sam’s educational journey. That is why he volunteered to teach the basics of computer programming to middle school students. 

Additionally, Sam has done summer research in economics and education at Harvard and in business at the University of Chicago. His deep work in economics through an equity lens has focused on the importance of transportation infrastructure to improve economic opportunity. Sam intends to do the M.Sc. in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance at Oxford.

“Never before has a class of Rhodes Scholars been elected entirely virtually, with both candidates and selectors participating safely, independently, and digitally,” said Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust. “These young Americans will go to Oxford next October to study in fields broadly across the social, biological, and physical sciences, the humanities, and public policy. They are leaders already, and we are confident that their contributions to public welfare globally will expand exponentially over the course of their careers.”

Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England—ranked the #1 university in the world in some global rankings—and may allow funding in some instances for four years. Mr. Gerson called the Rhodes Scholarships "the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates."

The Scholarships were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes and are provided in partnership with the Second Century Founders, John McCall MacBain O.C. and The Atlantic Philanthropies, and many other generous benefactors. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904. 

Cobb’s Rhodes Scholar is among the group elected to enter Oxford in October 2021.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process. First, applicants must be endorsed by their college or university. This year more than 2,300 students began the application process; 953 were endorsed by 288 different colleges and universities. Committees of Selection in each of 16 U.S. districts then invite the strongest applicants to appear before them virtually for an interview.

In addition to academic excellence, a Rhodes Scholar should also have great ambition for impact and the ability to work with others to achieve one’s goals. A Rhodes Scholar, like Sam, should also be committed to make a difference for good in the world, be concerned for the welfare of others, and be acutely conscious of inequities. 

Before joining the elite group of college students named a Rhodes Scholar, Sam was first one of the select high school seniors to win a College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship.