Dr. Wilder Penfield - Early Academics

Wilder entered Princeton University in New Jersey directly after high school, never losing sight of the Rhodes scholarship he so strongly wanted. He managed the baseball team, excelled at wrestling, and worked his way up to first string tackle on the football team all while maintaining an outstanding academic average. Upon graduation from Princeton with a philosophy degree, Wilder discovered that his cherished Rhodes scholarship had been awarded to an "excellent fellow" from Rutgers.

Faced with the need to finance his medical education, Wilder coached the Princeton football team and taught at Galahad school. Following this year, he was finally awarded the Rhodes scholarship, and enrolled at Oxford in 1914.