Senior Isam Mina Named Rhodes Scholar

Isam Mina ’26, a molecular biology major from Amman, Jordan, has been selected as a 2026 Rhodes scholar. Mina is one of just two students chosen from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine to pursue graduate studies at Oxford University following his college graduation. 

Mina, who is also pursuing minors in global health and health policy and quantitative and computational biology, will seek master’s of science degrees in applied cancer science and health services improvement and evaluation when he arrives at Oxford in October 2026.  

According to a University announcement, after Oxford, he “plans to attend medical school and become an oncologist, with a focus on improving access to care and working in underfunded health systems.” His interest in oncology was sparked after four extended family members battled cancer. 

Per Mina’s LinkedIn, he was a clinical research intern at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center this summer, and in the summer of 2024, he was a clinical research intern at Oxford’s clinical research unit based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Through Princeton’s Summer Social Impact Internship program, in 2023, he was a summer intern for Operation Smile in his hometown of Amman. 

In May 2025, Mina was chosen as a Class of 1978 Foundation recipient for his project “to expand CPR and first aid education in underserved Jordanian communities,” according to his LinkedIn, which also shows that Mina is a member of Princeton Emergency Medicine, Princeton Scholars of Innovative Medicine, Princeton Public Health Review, the club squash team, Wawa United soccer team, and Ivy Club. 

Mina volunteers at Compassus Palliative Care and Hospice in Princeton and chairs the University’s Compassionate Medicine Fellowship, according to the University announcement. 

The Rhodes Scholarship program is merit-based and fully funds at least two years of postgraduate studies “with the purpose of developing public-spirited leaders, and to promote international understanding and peace through an international community of Scholars,” according to the organization’s website. The award also includes an annual stipend and flights to and from the United Kingdom. 

Additional 2026 Rhodes Scholars from other countries will be announced later; the United States cohort of Rhodes scholars will be announced on Nov. 22.