Ambassadorial Scholarships (founded 1947) was a program of the
Rotary Foundation. The program ended in 2013 and was replaced by the
Rotary Global Grant Scholarship, which expands on the Ambassadorial mission, by now ensuring that every Rotary Scholar advance Rotary's International mission to " promote service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace." .[1]
The purpose of the prestigious Ambassadorial Scholarships program was to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries and geographical areas. The program sponsored several types of scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students. While abroad,
scholars served as goodwill
ambassadors to the host country and gave presentations about their homelands to
Rotary clubs and other groups. Upon returning home, scholars shared with Rotarians and others the experiences that led to a greater understanding of their host country.[2]
Chiharu Sakai of Japan received first prize in National Power's World Piano Competition in
London in 1991 and first prize in the Debussy Contemporary Music in
Portugal in 1987. She studied Piano at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles in 1985 as an Ambassadorial Scholar.
Yukiko Shiratori of Japan is an author of child education and linguistic books for Japanese children living in Central and
South America. She studied at the Women's College of the
University of North Carolina as an Ambassadorial Scholar in 1962.
Prakas Muthuswamy has
authored more than 20 cover stories and 50 special journalistic reports in India. He is now the principal correspondent of India Today, India's largest selling
English-language newsmagazine, and its other language editions. He studied
journalism as an Ambassadorial Scholar at the
University of Florida, United States, in the mid-1980s.
Ricardo Garcia Rodriguez served as the
Foreign RelationsMinister of
Chile from 1987 to 1988. He has also served as Secretary of the Interior and Minister of the Constitutional Tribunal. He was awarded an Ambassadorial Scholarship to study
law at the Università degli Studi di Roma in 1955 and has been a member of the Rotary Club of Santiago since 1986.
Janet Chvatal is an American soprano who has produced and directed over a hundred musical events, galas and concert series in Europe and in the US to support charity organizations for children and disabled adults in the United States, Germany, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka.[3] She was awarded an Ambassadorial Scholarship to study
Opera in
Vienna, Austria in 1987.[4]
Aspen Mays is an American artist who works in photography and other forms of visual media.[5] In 2006, she was awarded the Ambassadorial Scholarship to study in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work has included interpretations of science and collaborations with scientists, such as the work "Sun Ruins."[6]
Christine Telyan Christine Telyan is now CEO and co-founder of London-based tech company UENI,[7] which helps small business to be online with no hassle and for free. Christine was also recently named one of the Independent's most inspiring female leaders and is in the running for the Telegraph's 50 most ambitious leaders in the UK. In 2004, she was awarded the Ambassadorial Scholarship to study in LSE, London, United Kingdom.
Michael T. Benson is an author and American academic administrator who currently serves as president of Coastal Carolina University. He was awarded an Ambassadorial Scholarship in 1993 to study history at St. Antony's College, Oxford, earning his DPhil in 1995.
Juanita Babet Villena-Alvarez is an author, professor, and American academic administrator at the University of South Carolina Beaufort who received the South Carolina Governor's Professor of the Year in 2010. She was awarded the Rotary Ambassador of Goodwill Scholarship from 1987 to 1988 to complete her Magistere (MA) in French literature at the
Sorbonne. She is also a
Fulbright Program Poland awardee.