Nine UIC Students Receive Scholarships to Study Abroad

Nine University of Illinois at Chicago undergraduates have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman scholarships to study abroad.

The UIC students are among almost 1,200 undergraduates awarded Gilman scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $8,000 to apply toward their study abroad program costs during the 2012-13 academic year. Since 2006, UIC students have received 68 Gilman scholarships totaling more than $280,000.

To be eligible, students must demonstrate financial need by receiving a federal Pell Grant for their studies and are from groups traditionally underrepresented in education abroad.

The Gilman scholarship program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, aims to diversify the kinds of students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they go. The program is funded through the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 and is administered by the Institute of International Education’s Southern Regional Center in Houston. It honors former U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, who chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee.

UIC recipients, who represent the colleges of architecture and the arts, business administration, engineering, and liberal arts and sciences, and their destinations are:

• Cam Enos, Chicago, sophomore, English, Stirling, Scotland.
• Elizabeth Garcia, Posen, Ill., senior, civil engineering, Siena, Italy.
• Gabriela Garcia, Wheeling, Ill., senior, management, Seoul, South Korea.
• Devorah Hershkovich, Buffalo Grove, Ill., junior, psychology, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Brian Kapustka, Chicago, senior, physics, Zurich, Switzerland.
• Kristan Karinen, Novato, Calif., senior, French and Francophone studies, Paris, France.
• Vinh Nguyen, Chicago, senior, criminology, law and justice, Tokyo, Japan.
• Rhiannon Muncaster, Plainfield, Ill., sophomore, Spanish, Santiago, Chile.
• Sandra Schwendeman, Mount Prospect, Ill. junior, undeclared major and Asian studies minor, Seoul, South Korea.

Seven students will study abroad for the fall semester. Kapustka and Karinen, who are participating in student exchange programs, will study in their locations for the entire 2012-13 academic year.

UIC ranks among the nation’s leading research universities and is Chicago’s largest university with 27,500 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state’s major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. More information about UIC.