UAB Student Earns Highly Competitive Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) student Samuel Elisha Gentle of Morris, Okla., will spend the 2010-11 academic year studying at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt, as a Rotary Club International Ambassadorial Scholar. Gentle is a UAB School of Business economics major set to graduate in May 2010.

August 20, 2009

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) student Samuel Elisha Gentle of Morris, Okla., will spend the 2010-11 academic year studying at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt, as a Rotary Club International Ambassadorial Scholar. Gentle is a UAB School of Business economics major set to graduate in May 2010.

Gentle, a student in the UAB University Honors Program who also minors in Arabic through the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is the son of Lisa Lewis of Morris, Okla., and Scot Gentle of Birmingham.

The Ambassadorial Scholarship, funded at $15,000, in part will pay for Gentle's work toward a master's degree in Middle East studies at AUC. The program will immerse the 21-year-old student in modern Egyptian life while he takes courses that examine Arabic language, Islamic institutions and the economics of Middle East nations. Following graduation, Gentle plans a to be a consultant to development agencies in North Africa and the Middle East and wants to work to establish American educational institutions in the Maghreb.

The Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship has been awarded to fewer than 1,000 international students from as many as 100 countries annually through 2009. Its purpose is to advance international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries and geographical areas.

While abroad, Gentle will be a goodwill ambassador to his host country and deliver presentations about his homeland to Rotary clubs and other groups. Once home, he will share with Rotarians and others the experiences that led to a greater understanding of his host country and its people.

Gentle is the second UAB student in three years to earn a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. University Honors Program 2008 graduate Skye Geerts received the award for the academic year 2008-09. 

About UAB

Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer. For more information, please visit www.uab.edu.

Samuel Elisha Gentle
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