Saluting Our Gates Scholarship Winners

February 14, 2008

Members of the Rutgers Community:

I have wonderful news to share. Three Rutgers undergraduate students—Michael Hayoun, Suzanne Pilaar, and Brian Spatocco—have been selected to receive the Gates Cambridge Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Cambridge in England. They are among only 45 graduating seniors nationwide to earn this highly competitive award. Rutgers is the only public university in the nation with three Gates Cambridge Scholarship awardees in 2008. Only Harvard, with four, had more winners.

Gates scholarships are awarded on the basis of a candidate's intellect, leadership, and desire to apply his or her knowledge to improve the lives of others. We are immensely proud of these students, who have combined academic excellence with active leadership in student organizations at Rutgers. They represent the very best of our undergraduates, and their commitment to excellence in all facets of their work at Rutgers is truly inspiring.

Please visit the Gates Cambridge Scholarship website at http://eh0673.empetushosting.net/scholars/new_scholars.asp to read more about Michael, Suzanne, and Brian. We have also posted a news release about their awards on the Rutgers homepage at http://www.rutgers.edu.

Join me in saluting and congratulating these outstanding Rutgers students.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey