Just one week after scooping up three Rhodes scholarships, Harvard continued to lead other institutions in the hunt for prestigious international fellowships.

Four seniors were named British Marshall scholars yesterday, tying Harvard's down-river neighbor MIT for most recipients per school.

This year's Marshall recipients are: Daniel J. Benjamin '99 of Mather House, C. Thomas Brown '99 of Adams House, Miriam B. Goldstein '99 of Adams House and Eric M. Nelson '99, also of Adams House.

While the number of Harvard students selected for the scholarship is down from last year's eight, officials in the fellowships office at the Office of Career Services (OCS) attribute the drop to annual fluctuations and not to weakness in this year's applicant pool.

"Eight, as far as I know, is an all-time high. [We have] three and four pretty regularly, sometimes one or two," said Paul A. Bohlmann, fellowshipsdirector at OCS.

Designed to express Britain's gratitude for theMarshall Plan following World War II, BritishMarshall Scholarships are awarded to 40 Americancollege students each year to finance additionalyears of study in Britain.

Bohlmann said he was pleased with this year'sslate of recipients, who he called "the best ofthe best."

"Each of them is just really a stellarcandidate," Bohlmann said. "I am very happy forthem and the prospects of what they are going tobe able to do in England in the next two years."

A Near Eastern Languages and Civilizationsconcentrator from Tampa, Fla., Goldstein said sheplans to study Arabic and Hebrew literature toexamine "the borders between cultures and peoplein order to create understanding, especially inthe Middle East."

Goldstein is the only woman from Harvard to beselected as a Marshall scholar in the past twoyears. Last year all eight Marshall scholars weremen--a situation Bohlmann dubbed "highly unusual."

Nelson, a history concentrator from New Yorkwho is also a Crimson editor, said he will focuson "classics and intellectual history" while hestudies at the University of Cambridge.

An economics concentrator from Dresher, Pa.,Benjamin will pursue a master's degree ineconomics from University College in London.

Brown, a history concentrator from Shelby,N.C., said he will study medieval Englishliterature.

Students chosen as Marshall scholars must firstobtain the University's endorsement. Followingregional interviews for select applicants,candidates compete at the national level to becomeone of those chosen by the Marshall Commission, agroup of English faculty and professionals.

The program seeks students who demonstrate"intellectual distinction" and the "potential tobecome leaders" according to information releasedby the British Council, which coordinates theprogram on behalf of the British Embassy.

Recipients said the interview process wasintense.

Following a discussion of everything from St.Augustine to Magna Carta to Chaucer, Brown saidhis interviewer "put two photocopies ofmanuscripts--one Latin, another Anglo-Saxon--infront of me and said, 'Now read and translate."

Goldstein said she was also asked difficultquestions. "One of the economists on the panel,without any warning, asked me to tell him what thepartial derivative with respect to y of some longmathematical expression was--without writinganything down!" she said.

The public announcement of the Marshallscholars was delayed for a week in the wake ofsimilar Rhodes scholar awards. The Marshallcommission did not want to be "overshadowed" bythe Rhodes list, which was made public December 5,said Alison McGrain, a spokesperson for the pressand public affairs office at the BritishConsulate-General in Boston.

Adams House Master Robert J. Kiely said he waspleased that three of the students selected asMarshall scholars are from Adams.

"It totally has to do with the dining hall,it's in the food, in the air, in the atmosphere,"Kiely quipped. "Maybe it's a nice going awaypresent for us.