The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship has been awarded to six College of LAS undergraduate students this spring. They are among 42 recipients from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“With 42 recipients, the U of I ranks among the top 10 producers of Gilman Scholars across the country this term, supporting students from eight different U of I colleges cumulatively with $115,000 toward their studies abroad,” said David Schug, the director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois. “An impressive 40% of our applicants received an award, twice the national average. The award gives these students not only a chance to study abroad but also represents the university across four different continents in the coming year.”
The Gilman recipients from LAS below are listed by their hometowns in Illinois, their majors and their study destinations. A recipient from New Jersey follows the list of Illinois hometowns.
Champaign — Anggana Yudono, chemical engineering, Denmark
Chicago — Kayla Latricia Woodard, English, Czech Republic
Fisher — Riley Parks, English, Thailand
Glendale Heights — Umalkhayr (Khayria) Abumaye, global studies, Netherlands
Homewood — Ifeoluwa Olamide Adeyinka, economics, United Kingdom
Ottawa — Francesca Rose Eggersdorfer, psychology, Italy
The U.S. State Department has awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to 3,500 American undergraduate students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in spring 2025 to study abroad in over 170 countries. Over 70% of selected Gilman Scholars are from rural areas and small towns across the United States, and 55% are first-generation college students. Gilman Scholars are U.S. undergraduate students with high financial need as federal Pell Grant recipients. The Gilman Program received a record-high of 17,000 applications across the 2024-25 academic year.
Editor's note: Six additional students from the University of Illinois received Gilman Scholarships but declined to be named. For more information, contact David Schug, National and International Scholarships Program director, 217-333-4710; topscholars@illinois.edu
