Sewanee Senior Kylene Monaghan Named 2026 Rhodes Scholar
Nov. 17, 2025
The University of the South is pleased to announce that Kylene J. Monaghan, C’26, has been named a 2026 Rhodes Scholar, becoming the University’s 28th recipient of the world’s oldest and most celebrated international postgraduate award.
Monaghan, a physics and mathematics double major from Blacksburg, Virginia, was selected as one of 32 American Rhodes Scholars chosen from 238 finalists nationwide. Nearly 2,800 students began the application process this year, representing more than 260 colleges and universities. The Rhodes Scholarship provides full funding for two to three years of graduate study at the University of Oxford in England.
Ranked first in her class with a 4.0 GPA, Monaghan has distinguished herself at Sewanee through exceptional academic achievement, ambitious scientific research, and wide-ranging leadership across campus. At Oxford, she plans to pursue an M.Sc. by research in engineering science as well as an M.Sc. in quantum technologies, extending the interdisciplinary work she has already undertaken in physics, mathematics, and engineering.
A Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar, Monaghan has earned some of Sewanee’s top academic awards, including the Isabel Caldwell Marks Award and induction into Phi Beta Kappa. Her research résumé spans quantum computing, thermal engineering, high-energy particle physics, and applied mathematics.
In summer 2025, she served as a CERN Summer Student in Geneva, where she conducted simulations for dijet analyses in the LHCb program and was one of only two American students recognized with honorable mention in the Karbach Prize competition for summer researchers. She previously completed an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in thermal engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and reviewed mathematical modeling research for a physics publication.
Beyond the classroom and laboratory, Monaghan has made an equally strong impact as a leader and athlete. A four-year starter and two-time First Team All-SAA honoree, she serves as captain of the Sewanee women’s soccer team, helping lead the Tigers to three consecutive conference championships and multiple NCAA tournament appearances. She is also a member of the University’s track team, holding a school record in the 4x400m relay.
On campus, she is president of the Sewanee Society of Physics Students, a peer tutor in physics and calculus, a member of Order of the Gown, and an active participant in Sewanee Cru and the Math Club.
With Monaghan’s selection, Sewanee continues a well-established tradition: the University is among the nation’s leading producers of Rhodes Scholars relative to its size, with 28 winners since 1907—more than many larger and more widely known institutions.
Monaghan follows Sewanee’s most recent Rhodes Scholar, Klarke Stricklen, C’22, who became the University’s 27th recipient in 2021.
Established in 1902, the Rhodes Scholarship is awarded based on academic excellence, leadership, commitment to service, and ambition for social impact. As American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust and Sewanee alumna Ramona Doyle, C’81, notes, “A Rhodes Scholar should show great promise of leadership and character, as well as an exceptionally strong commitment to service.”
