Four UIC students awarded Gilman study abroad scholarships

Four students from the University of Illinois at Chicago have been awarded U.S. State Department Benjamin A. Gilman scholarships to study abroad this spring.

The UIC recipients, all from Illinois, are among more than 800 American undergraduate students from 386 colleges and universities across the U.S. selected for the honor.

The Gilman International Scholarship Program, sponsored by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, aims to diversify the group of students who study abroad and their destinations. To be eligible for the award, students must demonstrate financial need by receiving a federal Pell Grant for their studies.

Scholars receive up to $8,000 to apply toward their study abroad program costs. Since 2006, UIC students have won more than 160 Gilman scholarships totaling approximately $640,000.

The latest UIC recipients, representing the colleges of applied health sciences, business administration, and liberal arts and sciences, and their destinations are:

Willieka Moore, sophomore undeclared major in business administration from Chicago, studying in London, England; Rome, Italy; and Madrid, Spain

Megan Weger, senior in biological sciences from Robinson, Illinois, studying in Copenhagen, Denmark

Regina Witherell-Poe, junior in biological sciences from Chicago, studying in Atenas, Costa Rica

Ovidiu Zdremtan, junior pre-physical therapy in rehabilitation sciences from Evanston, Illinois, studying in Brisbane, Australia

The Gilman 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. The program honors former U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, who was chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee.