Student and Alumna Awarded Knight-Hennessy Scholarships

The Career Center is pleased to announce that Serage Amatory, graduate student and Radwa Hamed '17, were among 68 students selected for the prestigious Knight-Hennessy Scholarship out of an applicant pool of 4,424.

The award provides recipients with a fully-funded graduate degree at Stanford University in Stanford, California. The aim of the program is to shape a new generation of leaders and as such it complements scholars’ graduate work with leadership training, mentorships and experiential learning opportunities.

Amatory, from Barouk-Chouf, Lebanon, will pursue a master’s degree in international policy at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences after graduating from AUC this year with a bachelor’s degree with a double major in political science and multimedia journalism and a focus on Middle East politics. A passionate advocate for the rights of women, children and the LGBTQIA+ populations, he aspires through changes to the educational system in Lebanon to promote a secular, equal opportunity and gender-neutral society there. Amatory chose to apply to the Knight Hennessy Scholarship because he was excited to find a program that “empowers students and armors them with the real tools of leadership and communication.”

Hamed, who hails from Cairo, will pursue a master’s degree in design impact at the Stanford School of Engineering. At AUC she earned a bachelor’s degree as a double major in computer engineering and electronics engineering.

Hamed aspires to help change people’s daily lives in Egypt and other developing countries with a focus on education, reviving cultural heritage and tourism. She described the Knight Hennessy program, with its focus on enhancing students’ leadership skills and connecting them to mentors to a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Both Amatory and Hamed attended an immersion weekend at Stanford in February as part of the Knight-Hennessy selection process. Hamed's main takeaway from the interview process was that it “mainly focuses on who you are as a person and what impact you want to do in the world.” Amatory added, “What seemed to count the most is who you portray yourself as before the panel…All they want at that stage is to get a closer look at your character and who you really are. Kind of like putting a face to a name but more of putting a persona, charisma and character to an application!”