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Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholars

More than 500 university students from 29 countries have been selected to study abroad as Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholars during the 2010-11 academic year. Designed to bridge cultures and encourage goodwill, the Ambassadorial Scholarships program is one of Rotary’s leading efforts to promote world peace and understanding.

Ambassadorial Scholarships provide undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to study at participating universities in the 200 countries and geographical areas where Rotary clubs are active. While abroad, scholars participate in community service projects and speak at local Rotary club meetings and conferences, schools, civic organizations, and other forums where they serve as “goodwill ambassadors” for their home countries.

In 2009-10 nearly 700 scholars from some 70 countries studied in more than 80 nations, at a program cost of approximately US$16.2 million.

Rotary Foundation scholar Megan McDonald at the Red Rose School in Kibera, Kenya.

Top U.S. universities sending Rotary Scholars abroad for the 2010-11 academic year include:

• United States Naval Academy (11 scholars)

• United States Military Academy (eight scholars)

• Harvard University (six scholars)

• University of California-Berkeley; University of Pennsylvania (five scholars each)

The Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarships program is one of the world’s largest privately sponsored international scholarship programs. Focused on humanitarian service, personal diplomacy, and academic excellence, the program has sponsored more than 40,000 scholars since 1947.

Alumni include former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Philip Lader, Goucher College President Sanford Ungar, former US Ambassador to India David Mulford, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, and the former Governor General of Australia Sir William Deane.