A 23-year-old University of Virginia graduate who created a nonprofit group to help tackle the AIDS epidemic in Washington has been named a Rhodes Scholar.

Tyler Spencer's scholarship was announced Sunday. He says a study abroad trip in southern Africa changed his life when he saw the impact of HIV and AIDS on a community in Mozambique.

Spencer learned about a group that trains star athletes in South Africa to teach about HIV prevention and adapted the program for D.C. He has recruited more than 100 volunteers and college athletes to work with students in after-school programs and through the Boys and Girls Clubs.

With the Rhodes scholarship, the Staunton, Virginia native will study ways to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs at the University of Oxford in England.

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