Five UIC Students Receive Gilman Study Abroad Scholarships

Five University of Illinois at Chicago undergraduates have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman scholarships for study abroad opportunities.

The UIC students are among more than 500 undergraduates awarded Gilman scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $8,000 to apply toward program costs during the 2012 summer semester.

Since 2006, UIC students have received 59 Gilman scholarships totaling $244,000. Eligible students are those receiving federal Pell Grant funding and are from groups traditionally underrepresented in education abroad. The program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, aims to diversify the kinds of students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they travel.

The latest UIC recipients, who represent the College of Applied Health Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Honors College, and their destinations are:

• Naheed Ahmad, senior Honors College biological sciences and psychology major, Elgin, Ill., studying in Fez, Morocco.
• Osamah Hasan, senior Honors College biological sciences major, Glen Ellyn, Ill., studying in Garborone, Botswana.
• Shannon Hargraves, junior earth and environmental sciences major, Chicago (Wicker Park), studying in Ísafjörour, Iceland
• Carline Joseph, senior Honors College kinesiology major, Chicago (South Shore), studying in Garborone, Botswana.
• Gabriela Reno, junior political science and French major, Chicago (Pilsen), studying in Dakar, Senegal.

The Gilman scholarship program is funded through the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 and is administered by the Institute of International Education’s Southern Regional Center in Houston. It honors former U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, who chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee.

UIC ranks among the nation’s leading research universities and is Chicago’s largest university with 27,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state’s major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.