"We are excited to have Mohamad as the first UH student to receive the JKC Graduate Scholarship," said Margaret Watson, assistant dean in the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies. "Each university in the United States can nominate two students for this honor. This year more than a thousand students were nominated, and Mohamad was one of the 76 awardees for 2005-2006."

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, established in 2000, has as its mission to help young people with exceptional promise to reach their full potential through education. Its scholarships identify and support recipients in financial need who qualify and demonstrate excellence in academic endeavors and extracurricular activities. In addition to his latest JKC honor, Halawi was awarded a JKC Undergraduate Scholarship during his junior year of college that covered all his educational expenses, from tuition and books to housing.

"Much of the excitement of my journey in the United States started in my junior year," Halawi said. "I went from more than 65 hours of paid work each week, to 65 hours of volunteer work. Now I am able to do things I've never dreamed of doing before."

In addition to his two JKC scholarships and NIH fellowship, Halawi recently was selected as the most outstanding member from among Golden Key International Honor Society's 350 chapters worldwide to be named the 2005 International Student Leader of the Year. He also was named a fellow for the Merage Foundation for the American Dream, created to recognize promising immigrants, providing him with a two-year stipend that he has earmarked for attending scientific and medical conferences. Other honors include being named a Walter and Adelheid Hohenstein Fellow by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, as well as a Golden Key International Honor Society Graduate Scholar, emerging as one of 12 worldwi
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Contact: Lisa Merkl
lkmerkl@uh.edu
713-743-8192
University of Houston
28-Oct-2005