PHILADELPHIA – Penn Athletics is proud to announce that two members of the men's lightweight crew program, seniors Andrew Orner and Lawrence Phillips, were recently named 2022 recipients of the Thouron Award by the University of Pennsylvania.
 
Orner is a senior who is a double major in the College of Arts and Sciences in economics and in political science with a concentration in international relations, with a minor in Hispanic studies. Phillips is a physics and philosophy major in the College. They are two of nine recipients across the Penn community to earn this prestigious scholarship in 2022.
 
Orner and Phillips are the second and third members of the lightweight program to earn the Thouron Award in the last three years. Daniel Brennan was a Thouron Scholar in 2020.

"It is an incredible point of pride for the Lightweight Crew to see Andrew and Lawrence receive this award," said Penn's Fred W. Leonard Head Coach of Men's Lightweight Crew, Colin Farrell. "We see how hard these two work on a daily basis in and out of the boat to make both their rowing and academic successful. It will be fun to watch them represent P150 abroad next year!"

The Thouron Award is a graduate exchange program between the United Kingdom and Penn. Its funding provides generous scholarships for postgraduate study abroad, and recipients join a stimulating community of international scholars and Thouron alumni. With its goal of furthering British-American understanding, the Thouron award gives British Scholars the opportunity to study at any of the dozen graduate schools of the University of Pennsylvania, while American Scholars can pursue a graduate degree at any university in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). On both sides of the Atlantic, Scholars enjoy the support and inspiration of the Thouron Community.

The award was established in 1960 by Sir John Thouron and his American wife, Lady Thouron, to promote closer ties between the people of the United Kingdom and the United States. It is among the most prestigious and generous academic scholarships in the world, giving young people of outstanding ability and open minds the means to study, travel and immerse themselves in the life of their host country. Scholars are chosen not only for their academic achievements, but for their ability to engage with one another and take an active part in a changing world. They are expected to act as student-ambassadors, putting their energy and intellect to work strengthening the ties between two great nations.

Meet Andrew Orner (from the University's Thouron Award release)
From Darien, Conn., Andrew is a senior double majoring in economics and in political science with a concentration in international relations, with a minor in Hispanic studies, in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a Perry World House Undergraduate Fellow and a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and has worked as an intern project leader at the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the Lauder Institute. In summer 2021 Orner interned at the National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies and completed the Hertog Foundation War Studies Program Fellowship. In addition, he is a four-year member of Penn's men's varsity lightweight rowing team. Orner plans to pursue a master's degree in war studies at King's College London.
 
Meet Lawrence Phillips (from the University's Thouron Award release)
From Harrison, New York, Lawrence is a senior majoring in physics and philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of Penn's varsity lightweight rowing team. A Benjamin Franklin Scholar, he conducts computational astrophysics research under Associate Professor James Aguirre. Phillips is the founder and director of the Penn Physics Outreach Program, a Netter Center student organization to facilitate after-school physics experiments in West Philadelphia high schools. He was project chair for the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education in Student Government and housing manager for the Kappa Sigma fraternity chapter. Phillips plans to pursue a master's degree in the philosophy of physics.