A Petrolia woman is among the elite scholars in the world.

Marissa Mueller has been named one of 11 Canadian Rhodes Scholars in 2021.

The scholarship program from Oxford University in London is one of the most prestigious in the world with alumni such as Canada’s deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland and former US President Bill Clinton.

Richard Pan, the Canadian Secretary of the Rhodes Trust and the Chair for the Rhodes Scholarships in Canada (RSC) says in a news release the scholarships recognize “intellectual excellence, strength of character, energy to strive, commitment to serve and instinct to lead” and the students receiving them are “our most talented, passionate and charismatic university graduates.”

Mueller, an LCCVI graduate and former Ontario javelin champion and Canadian silver medalist, is currently attending the University of Iowa and is on the track team. She’s also actively involved in student government, serving on the athlete advisory committee and the Big 10 Advisory Committee. She’s also the first Student-Athlete representative in student government.

Mueller is majoring in biomedical engineering in pre-medicine who will graduate in May.

She intends to pursue both medicine and research as a physician-scientist after completing a MSc by Research in Surgical Sciences at Oxford over two years.