Graduate College honors Gates Millennium Scholars

Arizona State University will honor more than 50 students from historically underrepresented backgrounds who have been recognized for their academic achievement and promise as future leaders by the national Gates Millennium Scholars program.

The Graduate College will host the annual reception on Wednesday, Sept. 3 to acknowledge these outstanding students for their accomplishments and encourage them to continue on a path toward graduate education.

The Gates Millennium Scholars program is a $1 billion initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote academic excellence and give students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to pursue their academic and career goals without the financial barriers that make it difficult for them to attend and succeed in college. More than 12,000 Gates Millennium Scholars have been funded nationwide since the inception of the program in 1999.

“One of the Graduate College’s major commitments is to help build the diversity of ASU’s graduate student population,” says Maria T. Allison, university vice provost and dean of the Graduate College.

“The diversity of our state and nation will continue to grow dramatically in the decades ahead. It is vital to Arizona’s future that ASU work proactively to ensure that the leadership of tomorrow will have the education critical to their success. We are very proud of our Gates scholars and believe that each will make important contributions to our communities and our country.”

Special guests at the event will include Dr. Delia Saenz, vice provost, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost; Alonzo Jones, director of the Multicultural Student Center; Dr. Mark Jacobs, dean of Barrett, the Honors College; and Michael Begaye, director of the American Indian Student Support Services.

For more information on the Gates Millennium Scholars program at ASU, visit http://graduate.asu.edu/gates/index.html.