David Liben-Nowell, a senior in Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences, has received a 1999 Winston Churchill Foundation scholarship providing for one year of graduate study at Churchill College of Cambridge University in England. Only 11 such scholarships are awarded each year, nationwide.

Liben-Nowell, who is majoring in computer science and philosophy with a concentration in cognitive studies, plans to study computer speech and language processing at Cambridge.

"I think it's a great opportunity and will be very interesting both educationally and culturally," Liben-Nowell said. "I have independent interests in linguistics and computer science, and this is an opportunity to pull some of those things together."

After his year at Cambridge, he plans to return to the United States and pursue a doctorate in computer science, specializing in the study of algorithms.

In addition to his undergraduate studies at Cornell, Liben-Nowell has pursued independent research on computational biology under Cornell computer science Professor Jon Kleinberg and on connections between computer science and philosophy under Professor Robert Constable, chair of the Department of Computer Science. He also has worked with the Programming Language Research Group under John Hannan of the Pennsylvania State University Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

"[Liben-Nowell] has incredibly broad interests, from Greek philosophy to object-oriented programming, and he can make connections between them, which is the amazing thing," said Constable.

Kleinberg echoed that. "I think both his depth and his breadth are very impressive," he said. "I think he's someone who could be successful at any of a wide number of things."

Liben-Nowell is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. At Cornell he belongs to the Association of Computer Science Undergraduates, the Undergraduate Math Club and the Big Red Marching Band, and has served as an Arts and Sciences student adviser and orientation counselor. He also serves as editor of the Mind-Brain-Behavior Society journal.

Liben-Nowell is a Cornell National Scholar and a 1998 recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship, and he was a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, an Advanced Placement National Scholar and Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction. He received the Computer Research Association Undergraduate Award, honorable mention, and the Computer Science Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. He has been on the dean's list in all of his semesters at Cornell.

His hobbies include racquetball, photography and juggling.

Liben-Nowell is a graduate of State College Area High School in State College, Pa. His mother, Lynn Liben, is a professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University. His father, Richard Nowell, is a specialist in the education of the hearing-impaired at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States awards 11 fellowships each year, providing a year of graduate study in engineering, mathematics or science at Churchill College. Students who earn the award must have demonstrated a concern for critical problems facing society and must possess strong qualities of independence and initiative. The Churchill Foundation was established in 1959 as an expression of American admiration for Britain's prime minister and wartime leader.