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Three Arab Americans Named Rhodes Scholars
On Sunday 32 men and women (selected from 769 applicants and 207 colleges and universities) from across the U.S. were selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2009.
Among the winners announced were three Arab Americans; Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed of the University of Michigan, Aisha Ihab Saad of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Kyle Haddad-Fonda
Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed, completed a joint degree in biology and political science in 2007 at the University of Michigan before entering a joint M.D./Ph.D. program in medicine and public health, also at the University of Michigan. A starting varsity lacrosse player and junior member of Phi Beta Kappa, he has won many academic awards in college and in medical school, has published in scientific journals, and was a leader in several students organizations. He also served as vice president of the Michigan Muslim Students’ Association and Head Counselor of the Michigan Muslim Youth council. Abdul intends to do the M.Sc. in global health science at Oxford.
Aisha I. Saad is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she majors in environmental health science and Spanish. A native of Cairo, she emigrated to the United States when she was six. Passionately committed to international environmental law and health sciences, she has published articles in two major medical and health care journals, and interned in the blood diseases ward at Cairo University’s teaching hospitals and with the Peruvian Ministry of Health. Aisha has also been a leader of the Muslim Students’ Association and has spearheaded important inter-faith dialogues. She plans to do the M.Sc. in nature, society and environmental policy at Oxford.
Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda, is a senior at Harvard where he majors in history and neareastern languages and education. Fluent in Mandarin and Arabic, he did research in China and Egypt for his senior thesis on China-Arab relations. Kyle was captain of the Harvard 2008 national college bowl championship team and plays the harp in the Mozart Society orchestra. A Syrian-American, he plans to do a doctorate in oriental studies at Oxford.
The scholarships are the oldest of the international study awards available to American students and provide two or three years of study.
The students will enter Oxford University in England next October.
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.
The American students will join an international group of scholars selected from 13 other jurisdictions around the world. Approximately 80 scholars are selected each year.
The value of the Rhodes Scholarship varies depending on the field of study. The total value averages about $50,000 per year.
Arab Detroit
Compiled from News Services