Georgia students win scholarship funded by Obama's Nobel prize

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Three Georgia college students are the first winners of a scholarship funded through the money President Obama received when he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Each recipient of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund's Obama Scholars program will receive $2,500 a year for two years. Scholarship officials are scheduled to announce the dozen winners today. The Georgia recipients are:

• Erik Ferguson, a junior majoring in biology at University of Georgia. He plans to specialize in microbiology in graduate school and ultimately become a college professor and researcher. He has volunteered as a literacy tutor at Montclair Elementary in DeKalb County.
• Rosy Gomez, a junior majoring in neuroscience at Emory University. She plans to travel to Guatemala after graduation and teach elementary school science. One of her goals is to practice medicine while also working as a college faculty member.
• Elizabeth Keilhauer, a junior majoring in education at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville. She grew up in El Salvador and volunteers with the Special Olympics. She enjoys working through problems and equations to come up with a solution.

"Georgia was very well-represented," said Frank Alvarez, president of the scholarship group. "It shows just how far the state has come."

The scholarship targeted juniors who are interested in teaching and are studying math, science, engineering or technology, Alvarez said. The focus was on juniors because students at that point have declared what they would study, while freshmen may change their mind.

Eligible students were required to attend college full-time, maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average and have a financial need. About 70 students applied, he said.

The scholarship fund received $125,000 from President Obama and was among the 10 organizations that shared the $1.4 million Nobel prize money.

The scholarship recipients learned of their win last month.

"It really is an honor and accomplishment to win one of the scholarships," Ferguson said. "And the money helps out a lot."