Twenty-five high school seniors who were just admitted to Duke University or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have accepted invitations to become Robertson Scholars, receiving full, four-year merit scholarships to study at both schools.
The leadership development program funds tuition, room and board, fees and up to three summers of domestic and international experiences.
Robertson Scholars enroll in and graduate from one school or the other, but take courses at both. They also spend a semester in residence at the other campus.
Hailing from 10 states and six foreign countries, 24 of the 25 students will begin their studies this fall, with 13 enrolling at Duke and 11 at UNC. The remaining recipient, an awardee at UNC, will defer for a year and join the program in the fall of 2013.
The Class of 2016 was chosen based on students' demonstration of outstanding academic achievement, intellectual curiosity, force of moral character, exceptional leadership potential and interest in working with others, said Woody Coley, the program's executive director.
"This cohort of scholars impressed our selection committee members with an extraordinary mix of strengths, experiences and skills," he said. "Each individual has distinguished himself or herself not only as a promising intellectual mind, but also as an influential leader of others toward meaningful goals."
Julian and the late Josie Robertson of New York founded the program in June 2000.
The new Robertson Scholars are:
Scholars at Duke University (name, high school, hometown):
Australia
Daniel Lim, Trinity Grammar School, Strathfield, New South Wales
New Zealand
James Band, John McGlashan College, Dunedin
Thomas Prebble, King's College, Auckland
United Kingdom
Thomas Cole, St. Paul's School, London
South Africa
Dimeji Abidoye, African Leadership Academy, Lagos, Nigeria
United States
California
Michael Yang, Quartz Hill High School, Lancaster
Florida
Rachel Anderson, Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School, Palm Beach Gardens
Nadine Goldberg, Miami Beach Senior High School, Miami Beach
Maryland
Abdul Latif, Smithsburg High School, Hagerstown
New Jersey
Joanna Kuang, Lawrenceville School, West Windsor
Devin Solanki, Montville Township High School, Pine Brook
New Mexico
Sophia Sennett, Armand Hammer United World College, Montezuma
Texas
Mehul Mehta, Westlake High School, Austin
In addition, the program has invited four students who are already enrolled at the two universities to join its existing Class of 2015. This is the third year of a new program initiative to select a small number of current first-year students.
These new Duke scholars are:
Connecticut
Spencer Dahl, Brunswick High School, Greenwich
North Carolina
Minali Nigam, Marvin Ridge High School, Waxhaw
Bangladesh
Minhazul Islam, Oxford International School, Dhaka
The new UNC scholar is:
North Carolina
Loren Shealy, Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte (will defer a year).
For more about the Robertson Scholars Program, visit http://www.robertsonscholars.org.