Twelve new George J. Mitchell scholars have been nominated after a US-wide competition for a year of post-graduate study at universities in Ireland.
They include a blind activist, a former West Point-trained woman paratrooper, and a number of student leaders who will study a range of courses from community health, to human rights and creative writing.
The students, the third annual group since the awards were established, were picked as much for their records in community and youth leadership as for their outstanding academic records.
The Mitchell Scholarship was set up by the US-Ireland Alliance, a Washington-based non-partisan charity, in part to honour the role played by the former US Senate Majority Leader in the Northern Ireland peace process.
The 2002-2003 scholars are: Matthew Alexander, Wenatachee, Washington (University of Ulster); Mariyam Cementwala, Bakersfield, California (NUI, Galway); Henry (Hal) Frampton, Charleston, South Carolina (NUI, Maynooth); Jeannie Huh, Capitola, California (TCD); Emily Mark, Los Angeles, California (TCD); Georgia Miller, Little Rock, Arkansas (University of Ulster); Joanna Pearson, Shelby, North Carolina (UCD); Seena Perumal, Dover Plains, New York (NUI, Galway); Davin Quinn, Des Moines, Iowa (Queen's, Belfast); Mark Tosso, Randolph, New Jersey (DCU); Sarah Wagner-McCoy, Sunnyside, New York (UCD); and Amanda Wetzel, Lansdale, Pensylvania (Queen's, Belfast).
The scholarship was launched in 1998 with the support of an endowment established by the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. Other financial support comes from an anonymous donor, Andersen, Bombardier Aerospace, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, and the Crucible Corporation. Usit Now provides a travel stipend to each scholar.
