Duke, UNC Announce Winners Of Robertson Scholarships

Forty-three top high school seniors, including students from Sri Lanka and New Zealand, have been selected as the Robertson Scholars' Class of 2009, President Richard H. Brodhead of Duke University and Chancellor James Moeser of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Friday.

The Robertson Scholars Program is an innovative joint merit scholarship program at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke. About half of the Robertson Scholars will matriculate at Duke and about half will enroll at UNC. All of the students take courses at both schools and spend a full semester in residence at the other campus.

Robertson Scholars attending Duke receive full tuition, while UNC-Chapel Hill Scholars receive full tuition, living expenses and a stipend. All scholars receive laptop computers and summer funding for community service research and travel in the United States and abroad.

The scholars are chosen for academic excellence, collaborative spirit, leadership ability, commitment to community and behavior grounded in strong ethical principles.

This year's winners come from 19 states and two foreign countries. Twenty have been awarded the scholarship at Duke and 22 at UNC. Luke Palder of Culver, Ind., was offered the scholarship by both schools and has the option to decide whether to be a Robertson Scholar at UNC or Duke.

Robertson Scholars are chosen from the applicant pools at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. There is no independent application process, though students can complete a form to express their interest in the scholarship and provide additional information about their leadership and service involvement.

The winners were chosen from nearly 19,000 admission applicants at UNC-Chapel Hill and nearly 18,000 at Duke. After a selection process that included application review and phone interviews, committees at both universities invited 84 finalists to Durham and Chapel Hill for interviews April 2-5.

"I am delighted with the selection of the new class of Robertson Scholars," Moeser said. "I congratulate every one of them. It will be a real pleasure to have them on our two campuses.

 "This spring the very first class of Robertson Scholars will graduate, leaving big shoes to fill. I hope the new group dives into the academic feast with equal gusto."

Robertson Scholars come together for special seminars taught by faculty of both universities, research projects and service-learning programs. The program runs a free express bus between Duke and UNC and offers collaboration grants to faculty and students at each university to support joint programs.

"Although the Robertson Scholars Program has been in existence only a few years, the scholars are quickly establishing themselves as leaders on both campuses," Brodhead said. "The program has spurred collaboration between our two institutions on academic programs and ideas and led to cultural exchanges, service learning opportunities and other benefits - “ exactly what it was intended to do."

Julian and Josie Robertson of New York founded the Robertson program in June 2000 with a $24 million endowment gift. Recently, the Robertsons established a scholarship opportunity for deserving students from New Zealand, where the couple resides for part of each year. The Robertsons share a long-standing and deep attachment to the country.

"Two New Zealand students were chosen this year, and in true Robertson fashion, one scholar will attend Duke and one will attend UNC," said Dr. Eric Mlyn, director of the Robertson program. "Henceforth, one winner annually from that country will have the option of choosing which university to attend."

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This year's winners, their hometowns and their high schools are:

Duke University:

Paras Bhayani, Homewood, Ill.

Illinois Math & Science Academy, Aurora, Ill.

Daniel Carroll, Bexley, Ohio

Bexley High School

Danny Cohen, Charlotte

Charlotte Country Day School

Varun Gokarn, Simsbury, Conn.

Simsbury High School

Chamindra Goonewardene, Nawala, Sri Lanka

Asian International School

Lauren Graham, Coto De Caza, Calif.

Tesoro High School, Las Flores, Calif.

Matt Hameroff, Tucson, Ariz.

Catalina Foothills High School

Kiran Harding, Clarksville, Md.

River Hill High School

Toni Helbling, San Antonio

St. Mary's Hall

Dan Houghton, Auckland, New Zealand

Kevin Hwang, Houston

Memorial Senior High School

Chetan Jhaveri, Hughesville, Md.

La Plata High School, La Plata, Md.

Nandini Kumar, Columbus, Ohio

The Wellington School

Emily Matthews, Chicago

Northside College Preparatory High School

Samson Mesele, Charlotte

Charlotte Catholic High School

Brian Monahan, Murphysboro, Ill.

Murphysboro High School

Rachel Northeim, Cary

William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh

Megan Srinivas, Fort Dodge, Iowa

Fort Dodge High School

Chris Straka, Woodberry Forest, Va.

Woodberry Forest School

Mike Weglarz, Orland Park, Ill.

Carl Sandburg High School

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

Tom Allin, Jackson, Miss.

St Andrew's Episcopal School

Nick Anderson, Weston, Conn.

Weston High School

Susie Baker, Chapin, S.C.

Chapin High School

Aja Barretto, Raleigh

Wakefield High School

Annalee Bloomfield, Raleigh

William G. Enloe High School

Vivek Chilukuri, Chapel Hill

East Chapel Hill High School

Pablo Friedmann, Newton, Mass.

Newton North High School

Malcom Glenn, Denver, Colo.

Thomas Jefferson High School

Daniel Hall, Charlotte

South Mecklenburg High School

Kristin Hill, Charlotte

South Mecklenburg High School

David Kreis, Baltimore

Towson High School, Towson, Md.

Lily Kurland, Clayton, Mo.

Clayton High School

Gabriella Miyares, Jacksonville, Fla.

Stanton College Preparatory School

Christopher Poe, Rome, Ga.,

Rome High School

Kiley Robbins, Pasadena, Calif.

Polytechnic School

Kelsey Schueler, Baltimore

Catonsville High School, Catonsville, Md.

David Sneed, Burke, Va.

Thomas Jefferson High School of Science & Technology, Alexandria, Va.

Rob Stephens, Winston-Salem

Mount Tabor High School

David Suitts, Atlanta

Henry W. Grady High School

Jasmine Woodard, Chesterfield, Mo.

Whitfield School, St. Louis

John Wulsin, Montezuma, N.M.

Armand Hammer United World College of the American West, Montezuma, N.M.

Aaron Yorke, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Winner at both universities:

Luke Palder, Culver, Ind.

The Culver Academies