News Release

Note to editors: Individual photos of Robertson Scholarship winners can be downloaded at http://www.robertsonscholars.org/img/winners_05/.  A list of the winners, including those from your area, is below.

CHAPEL HILL – Forty-three top high school seniors, including students from Sri Lanka and New Zealand, have been selected for the Robertson Scholars Class of 2009, Chancellor James Moeser of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and President Richard H. Brodhead of Duke University announced today (April 8).

The Robertson Scholars Program is an innovative joint merit-based scholarship program at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke. About half of the Robertson Scholars enroll at Duke and about half at UNC. All of the students take courses at both schools and spend a full semester in residence at the other campus.

Robertson Scholars attending Duke receive full tuition, while UNC-Chapel Hill Scholars receive full tuition, living expenses and a stipend. All scholars receive IBM laptop computers and summer funding for community service research and travel in the United States and abroad.

The scholars are chosen for academic excellence, collaborative spirit, leadership ability, commitment to community and behavior grounded in strong ethical principles.

This year’s winners come from 19 states and two foreign countries. Twenty have been awarded the scholarship at Duke and 22 at UNC. Luke Palder of Culver, Ind., was offered the scholarship by both schools and has the option to decide whether to be a Robertson Scholar at UNC or Duke.

The winners were chosen from nearly 19,000 admission applicants at UNC-Chapel Hill and nearly 18,000 at Duke. After a selection process that included application review and phone interviews, committees at both universities invited 84 finalists to Durham and Chapel Hill for interviews Saturday through Tuesday (April 2-5).

"I am delighted with the selection of the new class of Robertson Scholars," Moeser said. "I congratulate every one of them. It will be a real pleasure to have them on our two campuses.

"This spring the very first class of Robertson Scholars will graduate, leaving big shoes to fill. I hope the new group dives into the academic feast with equal gusto."

Robertson Scholars come together for special seminars taught by faculty of both universities, research projects and service-learning programs. The program runs a free express bus between Duke and UNC and offers collaboration grants to faculty and students at each university to support joint programs.

"Although the Robertson Scholars Program has been in existence only a few years, the scholars are quickly establishing themselves as leaders on both campuses," Brodhead said. "The program has spurred collaboration between our two institutions on academic programs and ideas and led to cultural exchanges, service learning opportunities and other benefits – exactly what it was intended to do."

Julian and Josie Robertson of New York founded the Robertson program in June 2000 with a $24 million endowment gift. Recently, the Robertsons established a scholarship opportunity for deserving students from New Zealand, where the couple resides for part of each year. The Robertsons share a long-standing and deep attachment to the country.

"Two New Zealand students were chosen this year, and in true Robertson fashion, one scholar will attend Duke and one will attend UNC," said Dr. Eric Mlyn, director of the Robertson program. "Henceforth, one winner annually from that country will have the option of choosing which university to attend."

Robertson Scholars are chosen from the applicant pools at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. There is no independent application process, though students can complete a form to express their interest in the scholarship and provide additional information about their leadership and service involvement.

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This year’s winners, their hometowns and their high schools are:

Tom Allin, Jackson, Miss.
St Andrew's Episcopal School, Jackson, Miss.

Nick Anderson, Weston, Conn.
Weston High School

Susie Baker, Chapin, S.C.
Chapin High School

Aja Barretto, Raleigh
Wakefield High School

Annalee Bloomfield, Raleigh
William G Enloe High School

Vivek Chilukuri, Chapel Hill
East Chapel Hill High School

Pablo Friedmann, Newton, Mass.
Newton North High School

Malcom Glenn, Denver, Colo.
Thomas Jefferson High School

Daniel Hall, Charlotte
South Mecklenburg High School

Kristin Hill, Charlotte
South Mecklenburg High School

David Kreis, Baltimore
Towson High School, Towson, Md.

Lily Kurland, Clayton, Mo.
Clayton High School

Gabriella Miyares, Jacksonville, Fla.
Stanton College Preparatory School, Jacksonville, Fla.

Christopher Poe, Rome, Ga.,
Rome High School

Kiley Robbins, Pasadena, Calif.
Polytechnic School

Kelsey Schueler, Baltimore
Catonsville High School, Catonsville, Md.

David Sneed, Burke, Va.
Thomas Jefferson High School of Science & Technology, Alexandria, Va.

Rob Stephens, Winston-Salem
Mount Tabor High School

David Suitts, Atlanta
Henry W. Grady High School

Jasmine Woodard, Chesterfield, Mo.
Whitfield School, St. Louis

John Wulsin, Montezuma, N.M.
Armand Hammer United World College of the American West, Montezuma, N.M.

Aaron Yorke, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Paras Bhayani, Homewood, Ill.
Illinois Math & Science Academy, Aurora, Ill.

Daniel Carroll, Bexley, Ohio
Bexley High School

Danny Cohen, Charlotte
Charlotte Country Day School

Varun Gokarn, Simsbury, Conn.
Simsbury High School

Chamindra Goonewardene , Nawala, Sri Lanka
Asian International School

Lauren Graham, Coto De Caza, Calif.
Tesoro High School, Las Flores, Calif.

Matt Hameroff, Tucson, Ariz.
Catalina Foothills High School, Tucson

Kiran Harding, Clarksville, Md.
River Hill High School, Clarksville, Md.

Toni Helbling, San Antonio
St. Mary's Hall, San Antonio

Dan Houghton, Auckland, New Zealand

Kevin Hwang, Houston
Memorial Senior High School, Houston

Chetan Jhaveri, Hughesville, Md.
La Plata High School, La Plata, Md.

Nandini Kumar, Columbus, Ohio
The Wellington School, Columbus, Ohio

Emily Matthews, Chicago
Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago

Samson Mesele, Charlotte
Charlotte Catholic High School

Brian Monahan, Murphysboro, Ill.
Murphysboro High School

Rachel Northeim, Cary
William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh

Megan Srinivas, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge High School

Chris Straka, Woodberry Forest, Va.
Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, Va.

Mike Weglarz, Orland Park, Ill.
Carl Sandburg High School, Orland Park, Ill.

Luke Palder, Culver, Ind.; The Culver Academies

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Contact: Dr. Eric Mlyn, director, Robertson Scholars Program, 919-843-7506

UNC News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589

Duke News Service contact: Keith Lawrence, 919-681-8059