There have been many firsts in Miles Sweet’s life. He was in the first class at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. He was the first member of his family to attend college.

But his latest “first” may be his greatest accomplishment so far.

The 21-year-old Fairfield man was among 32 students from U.S. colleges to win Rhodes scholarships for study at Oxford University in England. President Clinton, former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen of Maine were Rhodes scholars.

The 32 winners named Saturday were selected by eight regional committees from among 950 applicants who were endorsed by 327 colleges and universities.

Rhodes scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.

Sweet, a student at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., was one of nine finalists brought to Boston for Saturday’s announcement.

“They just sort of announced all four that had won, and I had to stop and make sure they actually said my name,” Sweet said from his room at Wheaton, a small liberal arts college.

The chemistry major is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, president of Wheaton’s chapter of the American Chemical Society and active in student government. He has conducted research in Paris and played timpani in high school and college bands.

At Oxford, he wants to study organic biological chemistry and read for a doctorate in chemistry.

Sweet credited the entire Wheaton College campus, as well as his Maine high school, for the scholarship.

“No one at Wheaton has ever won a Rhodes scholarship, so no one really knew what to do, but the entire college community came together to help me,” he said.

He said he also wanted to send a message to people in his home state who haven’t supported the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. The school has struggled for funding and legislative support since it opened six years ago. But Sweet said he is living proof that the school works.

His mother, Lynn Sweet, attributed his success to the magnet school.

“His interest in chemistry really developed in Limestone because of the classes he took in the two years he was there,” Sweet said. “His father and I are very impressed – he’s a fine young man.”