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Last modified: Thursday, August 10, 2006

Indiana University selects 20 top students as Wells Scholars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AUG. 10, 2006

EDITORS: Publication-quality photos of the new Wells Scholars are available online at https://newsinfo.iu.edu/cat/page/normal/285.html. Separate news releases have also been prepared for each Wells Scholar. Contact George Vlahakis at 812-855-0846 or gvlahaki@indiana.edu if you need additional information about someone from your circulation area.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University announced today (Aug. 10) that 19 entering freshmen and one current IU student will join more than 320 others this fall who have been named Wells Scholars.

The scholarship, named in honor of the late IU Chancellor Herman B Wells, ranks among the most competitive and prestigious awards offered by any American university. Since its inception in 1990, more than two dozen Wells Scholars have gone on to earn prestigious Rhodes, Truman, Marshall, Soros, Mitchell, Churchill, Fulbright and Goldwater scholarships for advanced study.

Today, many previous Wells Scholars contribute to Indiana as residents, working as attorneys, doctors, school teachers and business people. One is an ordained minister. Others have gone on to clerk for Indiana and U.S. Supreme Court justices, are engaged in international relief and service efforts, or are scholars at other renowned educational institutions such as Harvard Business School and Cornell Law School. There are Wells Scholars currently serving in the Armed Forces and other positions in government.

IU's Wells Scholars Program began with fund-raising efforts in 1988 and the appointment of Breon Mitchell, professor of comparative literature, as its founding director. In 1990, IU welcomed its first class of Wells Scholars, and on his 90th birthday, June 7, 1992, the chancellor was officially presented with the prestigious scholarship program as a gift from his many friends and admirers. After Wells' death in the spring of 2000, this community of talented and dedicated young scholars remains as a permanent legacy of his educational vision.

Wells Scholars receive full tuition and course-related fees, as well as a living stipend for four years of undergraduate study on the Bloomington campus of IU. Newly named recipients who already are students at IU receive tuition, fees and a stipend for the balance of their education at the university.

Incoming Wells Scholars who are freshmen are listed below with links to a personalized press release:

An additional menber of the incoming Wells Scholar group is currently enrolled at IU. He is Robert M. Koffie, a junior from Holton, Ind., originally from Ghana. Read about Koffie and his accomplishments here: https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/3847.html

The program also offers special seminars, an optional year of study abroad, and support for a summer research project or internship. The Wells program emphasizes close interaction with faculty, academic and career advising, opportunities for community service and contact with distinguished visitors.

Wells Scholars are nominated by their high schools and selected for having demonstrated exceptional qualities of character, leadership, and distinction both inside and outside of the classroom.