Nigerian Student Wins UB's Laurence Short Academic Award for International Graduate Students
January 4, 2016
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Fenose Osedeme, a University of Baltimore graduate student from Nigeria, is one of two winners of the University's Laurence Short Academic Award for 2015-16. The award recognizes academic excellence among international students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
"I grew up in Lagos State but I am from Delta State in Nigeria, West Africa," Osedeme said. "My undergraduate degree is in biochemistry from Covenant University in Nigeria. I've always been interested in the health of populations but my desire to study Health Systems Management [at the University of Baltimore] emanated firsthand from my experiences with the health systems in Nigeria."
Osedeme is a member of the African Student Union and is involved with the International Students Association, the Diversity and Cultural Center, the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, and UB's Community Service Day programs. She noted that she expects to graduate from UB this spring.
Khanh Nguyen, an accounting student in the Merrick School of Business, is this year's undergraduate winner. Nguyen transferred from Montgomery College in Fall 2014 to begin her B.S. in Business Administration degree with a partial tuition scholarship. Originally from Hanoi, Vietnam, Khanh is a Dean's List student and a member of Beta Alpha Psi and the Helen P. Denit Honors Program. She has volunteered for the nonprofit Foundation for Rural Children by fundraising and donating her personal artwork for its charity art show.
In addition to a cash award and a certificate, each recipient will have their name engraved on a plaque displayed in the Office of International Services and be formally recognized at UB's annual Eubie Awards Ceremony later in the spring semester.
Runners-up Naja Albluwi, Seham Aldhelaan, Patience Dogho, Tatiana Jimenez, Syed Kazmi, Xian Li, Gladys Muchunu, Regina Pratscher, Nur Syeda, Jyoti Tiwari, Hyejeong Yoo, Jing Yu and Keli Zhang will receive Certificates of Excellence.
The annual Laurence Short award program is made possible by the generosity of UB alumnus Ali Alemi. The Alemi family established the Laurence Short Endowment Fund in 1984 to recognize academic excellence among international students. The endowment also supports an emergency loan program for international students. It is named in honor of the late Laurence Short, former UB international student adviser and faculty member in the then-Department of Foreign Languages. Contributions may be made through the UB Foundation.
Award criteria include a 3.5 (graduate) or 3.0 (undergraduate) GPA, full-time enrollment during the current fall and previous spring semesters, an extracurricular involvement sheet, and an original essay.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.