Peggy Xu, AB’17, has been awarded the Lionel Pearson Fellowship from the Society for Classical Studies. The Pearson Fellowship is awarded annually to one student among nominees from Classics departments in the United States and Canada.

The Society for Classical Studies is the pre-eminent body of classical studies in the United States. The Pearson Fellowship awards $24,000 to support one year of post-graduate study of classical literature in an English or Scottish University. Previous recipients include Sarah Nooter, Associate Professor in the Department of Classics, who earned an M. Phil at Cambridge University.

“I am deeply indebted to our wonderful Classics department for their guidance and encouragement,” Ms. Xu said. The fellowship will fund her first year of University in the U.K., after which she will continue with her M. Phil.

Ms. Xu is writing her honors thesis on problems of evidence and argument in suits that contested the freedom or servitude of individuals in courts of the Roman empire. Ms. Xu’s adviser, Clifford Ando, praised her ablities as a scholar, saying she “brings both insights and questions from each scholarly domain to her work in the other.” Ando is the David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor in the Department of Classics.

In addition to organizing the society of undergraduate Classics majors, Ms. Xu serves as Chair of the College Council and leads tours in the Admissions Office. She will graduate in June having double-majored in Classics and Law, Letters and Society.