UAB students awarded prestigious Gilman International and Freeman-ASIA scholarships to study abroad – News

Written by: Kamina Perdue and Samil Baker
Media Contact: Tehreem Khan

Six University of Alabama at Birmingham students have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship BY United States Department of State. Two other students, Markia Hoyle-Brown and Grace Kim, are recipients of this award Institute of International Educations Freeman Prize for Asian Studies.

The Gilman and Freeman-ASIA Scholarships are life-changing opportunities, and not just in that they provide funding for international study, said Michelle Cook, Ph.D., director of UAB’s Office of National and International Scholarships and Fellowships. Gaining national recognition in this way empowers these students to even greater things in the future.

This year’s recipients include students from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Collat ​​School of Business and the School of Health Professions.

• Tanner Caton, a neuroscience major and native of Wetumpka, Alabama, is a Gilman recipient and will travel to Costa Rica. She is an Honors College student at Custom path.
• William Coleman, an industrial and domestic distribution specialist in Mobile, Alabama, is a Gilman recipient and will travel to Spain. He is a Personalized Track Honors College student.
• Markia Hoyle-Brown, an anthropology major and native of Birmingham, Alabama, is both a Gilman recipient and a Freeman-Asia recipient and will travel to Thailand.
• Jacob Landon Frazier, an English major and native of Gadsden, Alabama, is a Gilman recipient and will travel to Spain. He is an Honors College student in the University’s Honors Program.
• Veda Joshi, a history major and native of Dothan, Alabama, is a Gilman recipient and will travel to Germany. He is an Honors College student at University Honors Program.
• Grace Kim, a pre-nursing and world and local languages ​​and literature major from Birmingham, Alabama, is a Freeman-Asia recipient and will travel to Japan.
• Nathalia Rosalina Quintero, a biomedical sciences major and native of Atlanta, Georgia, is a Gilman recipient and will travel to Spain.

The Gilman Scholarship is sponsored by United States Department of Education Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program aims to make study abroad experiences accessible to a more diverse student population and gives students the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages ​​and economies making them better prepared to take leadership roles in government and the private sector.

of Freeman-ASIA Program supports United States-based students with demonstrated financial need who plan to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia. The purpose of the program is to increase the number of US citizens and permanent residents with direct exposure to and understanding of Asia and its people and cultures. Since its inception in 2001, Freeman-ASIA has enabled study abroad in East and Southeast Asia for more than 5,000 US graduate students from more than 600 institutions.

UAB’s Office of National and International Scholarships and Scholarships works closely with the UAB Education Abroad team to guide students through the scholarship process and help them manage the logistics of international travel.

It is exciting to see students benefit from education abroad experiences with Gilman’s support, said Ashley Neyer, director of UAB Education Abroad. Our students’ award success demonstrates the dedication and academic focus they bring to their international experiences, and the Gilman panelists recognize this. The partnership between Education Abroad and Scholarships creates a synergy for our students to understand that this nationally competitive award is achievable and to be proud of the achievements of our winners. It is imperative that UAB students have affordable cultural immersion experiences to become global citizens in a world that has proven to be more interconnected than ever before.