Belmont HS Grad Awarded Prestigious Mitchell Scholarship

One word used to describe Lucas Mason-Brown while he attended Belmont High School was brilliant.

Outspoken and precocious, Mason-Brown, class of 2009, earned one of the three Lillian F. Blacker Prize for Excellence in Writing, the Parent Teacher Organization individual achievement award in Mathematics and qualified for a National Merit Scholarship.

While matriculating at Brown, he has concentrated on the mathematics fields of cryptography and elliptic curves, involved politically on campus, participating in a student film and has volunteered as a math tutor to a wide range of pupils from GED candidates to advanced undergraduate students.

He is scheduled to graduate in six month with a combined Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics/logic and the philosophy of science. 

Currently, Mason-Brown is best known for being part of a three-member interdisciplinary team of undergraduates who deciphered the "Roger Williams Mystery Book," a 17th-century code written and developed by Rhode Island founder Roger Williams found on the margins of a book which had eluded solving since the 1600s.

Mason-Brown used his expertise in cryptanalysis – the art and science of analyzing information systems in order to study the hidden aspects of the systems – to assist breaking the shorthand code and discovering the meaning of the text,as noted in an Atlantic Monthly article. 

This weekend, Mason-Brown was named to the 2014 Class of George J. Mitchell Scholars at a reception in Washington DC. 

The Mitchell Scholars Program, named to honor former US Senator George Mitchell's pivotal contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process, is designed to introduce and connect generations of future American leaders to Ireland.

The nationwide competition attracts nearly 300 applicants from whom 12 were awarded scholarships on the basis of academic distinction, leadership and service. 

Recipients spend a year of post-graduate study at institutions of higher learning in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Mason–Brown will study mathematics at Trinity College, Dublin.