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2007 Graduate Scholarship Recipients
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
44325 Woodridge Parkway
Lansdowne, VA 20176
News Release
Release Date: August 15, 2007
Media Contact: Vance Lancaster
Director, Marketing and Communications
Office: (703) 723-8000 x215
vlancaster@jkcf.org
LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE EARN STUDENTS GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
New Jack Kent Cooke Scholars Come from 20 States and 11 Nations
LANSDOWNE, VA - As thousands of young men and women across the country received their baccalaureate degrees this past spring, some began preparing for their next scholarly challenge. Included in that group are 34 remarkable students who will continue their education thanks to the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Program. The recipients, chosen after a nationwide selection process that drew 977 nominees, were named this week.
The Graduate Scholarships cover tuition, room, board, fees, and books - up to $50,000 annually - for up to six years. The scholarships are among the most generous academic awards offered in the United States.
"We're extremely proud to award much-needed and well-deserved scholarships to these students," said Joshua Wyner, executive vice president at the Foundation. "The Foundation's objective is to help advance the education of high-achieving, low-income students across the country at every level of education. By investing in these exceptional college graduates, we hope to further unleash their potential to become leaders and visionaries in their respective fields."
Now in its sixth year, the Cooke graduate scholarship program has awarded more than 300 scholarships. Wyner noted that "word about the program is getting around" in the academic world, and it is now one of the most sought after graduate scholarships.
The exact amount and duration of the scholarships vary by student, based on the cost of attendance and length of the graduate program, as well as other scholarships or grants the student has received. The recipients (full list below) will pursue graduate study in wide-ranging fields, including medicine, law, education, painting, international relations, and architecture, among others. The scholars include five pursuing degrees in the arts, reflecting one of the late Mr. Cooke's passions.
Students attending any accredited college or university in the United States were eligible to apply. Each institution could nominate up to two students. Candidates then underwent a rigorous assessment at two stages by independent panels of academic experts, including graduate school deans, admissions counselors, and faculty. The selection criteria included academic achievement and financial need, as well as a will to succeed, leadership, and community involvement.
The new Jack Kent Cooke Scholars include:
- In the midst of his undergraduate program at the University of Oregon, Noah Smith became paralyzed in an automobile accident. He raised money to fund his specialized rehabilitation therapy, resumed his education, and graduated summa cum laude. He plans to pursue a law career and will enter the J.D. program at the University of California, Berkeley this fall. Noah is involved in paralysis-related advocacy efforts at the state and national levels and will combine the necessity and urgency he feels as a patient-advocate with the knowledge of a legal education.
- Matthew Loftus was home-schooled after kindergarten and enrolled in community college at the age of 14. The eldest of 13 children, Matthew traveled to Mexico, Haiti, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, and Yemen during the next several years, serving children in need and assisting with AIDS support groups. He was a 2004 recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, for community college students transferring to selective 4-year colleges and universities, and he now plans to attend medical school at the University of Maryland so that he can work as a physician in international relief and development.
- Quyen Vo. After a long journey from Vietnam to impoverished East Oakland, then to a private college preparatory school on scholarship and onward to Yale, Quyen is grateful for his educational opportunities. He chose a diverse and demanding undergraduate curriculum at Yale, and for graduate school he plans to do the same. He aims to study economic and social history, then pursue a Ph.D. investigating poverty and development in a global context. Eventually, Quyen also hopes to obtain a law degree, which will allow him to help defend the rights of the most vulnerable members of society.
The students come from 20 states and 11 foreign nations. California led all states with eight scholars, followed by Maryland with three. The foreign scholars come from Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Honduras, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Pakistan, and Sudan.
The application deadline for the 2008 Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarships is March 14, 2008. Undergraduates or recent alumni interested in applying should contact their undergraduate institution's faculty representative for details or visit the Foundation's website: www.jackkentcookefoundation.org
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, and high school students, and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need.
2007 Recipients
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship Program
Mohamed Bakri
Khartoum, Sudan
Undergraduate School: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Graduate School Plans: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Annette Burgueno
Hometown: Whittier, CA
Undergraduate School: University of California, Irvine
Graduate School Plans: University of Southern California
Crow Cianciola
Hometown: Portland, ME
Undergraduate School: Maine College of Art
Graduate School Plans: California College of the Arts
Amparo Cid
Hometown: Morgan Hill, CA
Undergraduate School: Santa Clara University
Graduate School Plans: University of California, Davis
Kiera Clarke
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Undergraduate School: University of Washington
Graduate School Plans: University of Washington
Nikia Clarke
Hometown: Albuquerque, NM
Undergraduate School: Loyola Marymount University
Graduate School Plans: University of Cambridge
Haydee A. Cuza
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate School: Loyola Marymount University
Graduate School Plans: University of California, Los Angeles
Nikhit D'sa
Mumbai, India
Undergraduate School: College of the Atlantic
Graduate School Plans: Columbia University
Sarah Dotson
Hometown: Frostburg, MD
Undergraduate School: Colgate University
Graduate School Plans: Dartmouth College
Noam Faingold
Hometown: Tulsa, OK
Undergraduate School: University of Tulsa
Graduate School Plans: New York University
Christopher Fields
Hometown: Blacksburg, VA
Undergraduate School: Virginia Military Institute
Graduate School Plans: Washington and Lee University
Elizabeth Gallagher
Hometown: Canby, OR
Undergraduate School: Scripps College
Graduate School Plans: Oxford University
Rennie Gallo
El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras
Undergraduate School: University of Central Arkansas
Graduate School Plans: Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Hadi Gharabaghi
Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Undergraduate School: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Graduate School Plans: New York University
Farah Ghniem
Amman, Jordan
Undergraduate School: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Graduate School Plans: New York University
Nastassia Herasimovich
Minsk, Belarus
Undergraduate School: Swarthmore College
Graduate School Plans: Northwestern University
Sadia Khanani
Karachi, Pakistan
Undergraduate School: Rice University
Graduate School Plans: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dong-Jin Kim
Seoul, Korea
Undergraduate School: Brigham Young University
Graduate School Plans: University of Cambridge
John Kimble
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Undergraduate School: Princeton University
Graduate School Plans: Stanford University
Dung Le
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Undergraduate School: Stanford University
Graduate School Plans: University of California, Los Angeles
Matthew S. Loftus
Hometown: Bel Air, MD
Undergraduate School: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Graduate School Plans: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Joachim Lyon
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Undergraduate School: University of California, San Diego
Graduate School Plans: University of Edinburg
Rosita Najmi
Hometown: Vienna, VA
Undergraduate School: Wake Forest University
Graduate School Plans: Harvard University
Andriana Nikolova
Yambol, Bulgaria
Undergraduate School: Grinnell College
Graduate School Plans: Harvard University
Yujune Park
Hometown: Greensboro, NC
Undergraduate School: Rhode Island School of Design
Graduate School Plans: Yale University
Katie Robinette
Hometown: Yucaipa, CA
Undergraduate School: University of California, Santa Barbara
Graduate School Plans: Tulane University
Ghazala Saleem
Karachi, Pakistan
Undergraduate School: Missouri Western State University
Graduate School Plans: Columbia University
Nermina Sljivo
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo
Undergraduate School: John Cabot University
Graduate School Plans: Johns Hopkins University
Mark Smiley
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Undergraduate School: Bernard M. Baruch College
Graduate School Plans: University of Pittsburgh
Noah Smith
Hometown: Hood River, OR
Undergraduate School: University of Oregon
Graduate School Plans: University of California, Berkeley
Tiffany Tajiri
Hometown: El Paso, TX
Undergraduate School: The University of Texas at El Paso
Graduate School Plans: Georgia School of Professional Psychology
Chat Travieso
Hometown: Miami, FL
Undergraduate School: Maryland Institute College of Art
Graduate School Plans: Yale University
Helen Tsai
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate School: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Graduate School Plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Quyen Vo
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Undergraduate School: Yale University
Graduate School Plans: University of Cambridge