Preston County student is a Rhodes Scholar

ALBRIGHT, W.Va. — A Preston County student is a 2023 Rhodes Scholar.

Henry A. Cerbone from Albright was one of 32 students selected. Cerbone is a senior at Harvard at University and becomes the first West Virginian to be awarded this since 2004.

Cerbone will graduate from Harvard with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Computer Science. According to the Rhodes Trust, Cerbone created his own concentration in the Ontology of Autonomous Systems, exploring the technical expertise to build robots alongside the ethical stakes of such creations.

The Rhodes Scholarship is among the world’s most prestigious scholarship programs and honors graduating college seniors for their high academic achievement, moral force of character, instinct for leadership and dedicated service to their communities.

U.S. Senators Joe Manchin, D- W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., congratulated Cerbone.

Manchin said in a statement, “The Rhodes Scholarship is an incredible accomplishment for college seniors and Henry has proven himself to be an excellent representative of the Mountain State. I congratulate Henry and his family for his selection as a 2023 Rhodes Scholar and for his remarkable academic, extracurricular and community achievements. Henry has earned this prestigious award through his dedication and hard work not only in the classroom, but also through his selfless devotion to serving others.”

Capito said in a statement, “I’m so honored to congratulate Albright-native Henry Cerbone on this prestigious recognition as a Rhodes Scholar, the first West Virginian to be awarded this high honor since 2004.

“Whether through his writings or research, Henry is already contributing through his studies at Harvard, and I am confident that he has a bright and successful future ahead of him. Congratulations, Henry, on your journey from Albright to Cambridge and now to Oxford!”

Selected students complete a two-year graduate program at Oxford University in England. At Oxford, Cerbone will do a D.Phil. in Biology.

32 students were selected as 2023 Rhodes Scholars and will begin their programs in October of next year. Cerbone is the first Rhodes Scholar to be selected through the US District 11 committee, representing West Virginia, since 2004.