UMD News Releases

Mr. Xiong Vang, a senior statistics and actuarial science major, has been selected to receive a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for his participation in a study abroad program to Thailand fall semester 2009. Information on the program and the scholarship were provided by the International Education Office at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The Gilman Scholarship is a congressionally funded program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and awarded specifically for study abroad. Gilman award recipients are chosen by a national competitive selection process. The award is used to defray study abroad costs.

The purpose of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is multi-faceted. It seeks to prepare undergraduate students to face an increasingly international focus in the world. It intends to diversify the kinds of students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they go. The Gilman Scholarship Program offers grants to undergraduates who have traditionally been under-represented in study abroad such as those who have financial need, study abroad in under-represented fields such as the sciences and engineering, who represent diverse ethnic backgrounds, have disabilities, and students planning to study abroad outside of Western Europe and Australia. All recipients are required to carry out a Follow-on Service Project that promotes the Gilman Scholarship Program at the students' home institution or community.