Two UMBC Alumni Receive Prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarships
Matthew Loftus ’07, chemistry, and Hadi Gharabaghi, ’06, visual arts, have received the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship. Only 34 students in the nation received this year’s scholarship, which honors high achieving students with financial need. Considered one of the most generous U.S. academic awards, it provides up to $50,000 per year for up to six years of graduate or professional study in any field.
Now in his first year at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Loftus came to UMBC on a Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarship. He spent summers doing volunteer work in Africa and was vice president of Students Taking Action Now in Darfur (STAND). He received the William Donald Schaefer Award for the best applicant to the Maryland International Education Association scholarship when he studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt.
Loftus hopes to work as a doctor in developing countries after medical school. “I am blessed and privileged to be a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship,” Loftus said. “It allows me to be free to pursue a career in international health serving others without having to worry about any debt from medical school.”
Gharabaghi is pursuing an M.A. in Cinema Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Originally from Iran where he studied math and physics in high school, he became interested in the arts and humanities while at Montgomery College, and later transferred to UMBC. His work has been exhibited at Caladan Gallery, Current Gallery, Iranian.com and the Middle East Institute. He also completed an internship at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
After receiving his master’s degree, Gharabaghi plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Media Studies and teach at the university level. “The prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship bestowed upon me has materialized my belief in the American Dream,” Gharabaghi said. “Having entered this country as a refugee nearly a decade ago, I aspired to achieve and maintain academic excellence since in Iran, I was unjustly denied opportunity due to my religious affiliation. For me, this scholarship is the validation of years of perseverance. Therefore, on the onset of 40, I feel more determined than ever to pursue my dream of an academic career in humanities.”
(8/20/07)
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