Eight rising first-year students have been awarded the University Scholars Program Scholarship to pursue their undergraduate studies at Duke University.
The University Scholars Program covers the full cost of tuition, room, board and mandatory fees for four years of undergraduate education. University Scholars also have access to generous funding for independent research, internships or study away programs in the summer and during the academic year.
Based on estimated tuition rates over a four-year period, the scholarship is worth over $315,000.
The award is given to financially deserving students who represent a range of personal and intellectual backgrounds and share an excitement for original research, collaborative thinking and innovative scholarship.
The University Scholars Program was created in 1998 with a gift from Duke alumna Melinda French Gates and her husband Bill Gates, through the William H. Gates Foundation. The program is designed to stimulate an interdisciplinary, intergenerational community of scholars and includes undergraduate, graduate and professional school students. Graduate and professional scholarships will be announced at a later date.
The Class of 2023 undergraduate scholarship recipients are:
- Aden Klein of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a graduate of Gatlinburg-Pittman High School;
- Cecilia de la Guardia of Miami, Florida, a graduate of Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart;
- Karam Oubari of Bend, Oregon, a graduate of Mountain View High School;
- Maya Lytje of Melrose, Massachusetts, a graduate of Melrose High School;
- Nadia Bey of Huntersville, North Carolina, a graduate of North Mecklenburg High School;
- Nathan Ostrowski of Mooresville, North Carolina, a graduate of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics;
- Nichole Izquerido of Miami, Florida, a graduate of Doral Academy Charter High School;
- Sophia Cetina of Rye, New York, a graduate of Rye High School.
For more information about the University Scholars Program, please visit https://jhfc.duke.edu/usp/.