The Alice M. Baldwin Scholars Program, a leadership program for undergraduate women at Duke University, has selected 18 first-year Duke students to form its 12th class. “These young women are so impressive,” said director Colleen Scott. “They are poised to create positive change in medicine, the arts, environmental issues, social justice, technology and engineering.” The four-year experience includes academic seminars, a residential living component and an internship. The program is fully subscribed with 18 women in each class, 72 participants in all and eight alumnae cohorts. Members of the Class of 2019, who hail from nine states and five foreign countries, will launch their Baldwin experience with an academic seminar and a retreat in January. The roots of the program go back to 2002, when Duke conducted the Women’s Initiative research project, which investigated the quality of life for women at all levels of the institution. The findings of low self-confidence, limited participation in leadership roles and few opportunities for mentorship led to the creation of the Baldwin Scholars program in 2004. The new class of participants was selected from a pool of 144 applications after two rounds of interviews by program staff members and current Baldwin Scholars. The Class of 2019 participants are: CALIFORNIARachel Rubin of Fresno FLORIDAVanessa Agudelo of Coral SpringsDaniela Flamini of Coral Gables GEORGIAChristiana Oshotse of Atlanta NEW JERSEYMoreen Njoroge of South PlainfieldClaire Stout of Cranbury NEW YORKKarley Whelan of Southampton NORTH CAROLINAMarie Li of CarySofiya Volobuyeva of Raleigh TEXASNatalie Le of IrvingAlejandra Uria of Houston VIRGINIAEdom Tilahun of Alexandria WASHINGTONMia King of Mercer Island CHINASini Chen of Hangzhou ENGLANDInes Jordan-Zoob JAPANMeng-Chen Chung of Yokohama NIGERIAMumbi Kanyogo of Nairobi SINGAPOREJasmine Tan of Singapore For more information on the Baldwin Scholars program, visit http://baldwinscholars.duke.edu
