Alex Chaitoff, a senior majoring in microbiology and political science, has been named a 2013 Marshall Scholar. Chaitoff will spend one year at the University of Sheffield in England obtaining a Master's of Public Health before returning to the U.S. to attend medical school. He plans to dedicate his career to improving the quality of healthcare for minorities.

The Marshall Scholarship was founded in honor of U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall by a 1953 Act of Parliament to pay tribute to the Marshall Plan, a World War II-era program where the U.S. provided monetary aid to Europe. The scholarships fund opportunities for American students to do one to three years of graduate study at any institution in the United Kingdom. Between 30 and 40 scholars are chosen each year with the aim of fostering mutual understanding between Great Britain and America through the advancement of any field of study a Marshall Scholar wishes to pursue, according to the scholarship website. Thirty-four 2013 scholarships were awarded to outstanding seniors and recent graduates across the country.

Chaitoff, a native of Salon, Ohio, was also awarded the competitive national Truman Scholarship in 2012. He has done research with Ismail White of the Department of Political Science, Tina Henkin in the Department of Microbiology, and Tom Wickizer in the College of Public Health.

Chaitoff is co-founder and director of research for the nonprofit Pure Water Access Project, studying the implementation of water filters in developing nations. He is a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, participates in Hillel, volunteers at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank and serves as vice president of the Global Health Initiative.