After Junior Year at Duke, German Student Goes On to Win Rhodes Scholarship

Timur Ohloff

Timur Ohloff only spent one year as an undergraduate at Duke, but it was an important piece of the German student’s successful application for a 2017 Rhodes Scholarship.

A graduate of Freie Universität Berlin with a B.A. in North American Studies and Political Science, Ohloff spent his junior year at Duke studying political polarization in America. His senior thesis, for which he conducted a national survey experiment, examined how politics affects people's partner preferences.

"I am incredibly grateful for all that Duke has made possible in my life,” Ohloff said. “I wouldn't be here today without the intellectually inspiring environment I've shared with my fellow students, friends, and teachers at the political science department.

“A heartfelt thanks to my professors and mentors for supporting me ever since - especially to John Aldrich, Sunshine Hillygus, David Rohde and Danielle Thomsen. I look forward to representing Duke proudly within the Rhodes Class of 2017."

Ohloff is the recipient of one of two Rhodes Scholarships for Germany next year and is part of a global class of 96 Rhodes Scholars.

While at Duke, Ohloff worked as a program assistant for Duke in Berlin and as a research assistant in the political science department.  He also founded the Duke Film Club, was a cellist in the Duke Symphony Orchestra and a member on Duke's Quidditch team.

A German-Turkish citizen, political activist and cancer awareness advocate, he aspires to become a public servant. At Oxford, he will pursue an M.Phil. in politics.

In addition to his studies, Ohloff has worked for U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, the German Embassy in Washington D.C., and the Green Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.