For years, UMBC students have made a mark at the highest academic levels, winning many of the top prestigious scholarships available. With the assistance of staff and faculty in the Honors College, students from every discipline have impressed the judges with their subject expertise and broad world outlook. Here’s a quick look at some of our more than a hundred past student winners of prestigious scholarships.
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Ian M. Ralby ’02, modern languages and linguistics, and M.A. ’02, intercultural communication, founder and CEO of the international consulting firm I.R. Consilium, is one of four UMBC winners of the Gates Cambridge. Even after completing a law degree at William and Mary and his M.Phil. and Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, Dr. Ralby still regards the education he received at UMBC as “unequivocally first rate and world class.
Marshall Scholarship
Loren Siebert ’93, computer science, earned his master’s in computer science at the University of Manchester and did research on technology policy at the London School of Economics. His master’s research earned him a mention in The Economist and in New Scientist in the same week. He later developed LinguaStep, software that is used in Arabic language programs at over 30 different universities.
Truman Scholarship
Alicia L. Wilson ’04, political science, dreamed of becoming a lawyer since the age of 15. After graduating from UMBC, she earned her law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. She is now Senior Vice President of Impact Investments and Senior Legal Counsel for Plank Industries.
Goldwater Scholarship
Daniel Ocasio ’17, chemical engineering, was a Meyerhoff Scholar, MARC U*STAR Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar, and member of the Honors College at UMBC. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where his research focuses on developing improved water treatment techniques and technologies.
Fulbright Scholarship
Jacqueline Wojcik ’17, visual arts, took an interdisciplinary approach to their research, combining animation, computer science, and history. They have spent the last academic year at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, exploring the role of game development in visualization, learning, and connecting people with history by modeling interactive environments based on the Gokstad ship.
Read more about UMBC’s very first Rhodes Scholar here.
