Originally published in The Omaha World-Herald

IOWA CITY — An Iowa man studying economics and international relations, with a focus on finding ways to promote environmental cooperation between the United States and China, has been named a 2016 Rhodes scholar.

Iowa City native Jeffrey Ding was among 32 Americans who were chosen out of 869 applicants for the scholarship to attend Oxford University in England.

Ding is also studying political science and Chinese at the University of Iowa. He had an internship with Hong Kong’s legislative council in 2014, and he spent the past summer working for the U.S. State Department’s East Asia Pacific bureau.

Ding’s scholarship is worth about $50,000 per year for two or three years. Ninety Rhodes scholars are selected worldwide each year.