Today, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports high-achieving students with financial need, announced the recipients of the 2019 Cooke Graduate Scholarship and the Cooke International Award. Through these scholarships and the award, the Foundation will award up to $6.1 million in scholarship funding to 78 students who have recently begun graduate programs at some of the most selective institutions in the U.S. and the U.K.

"We know that graduate degrees can have a profound impact on an individual's lifetime earnings. Unfortunately, graduate school is often beyond the reach of many students with financial need," said Seppy Basili, executive director of the Cooke Foundation. "With the Cooke International Award and Cooke Graduate Scholarship, the Foundation is expanding this opportunity to students who will contribute significantly to their chosen fields."

These awards are only open to previous recipients of the Cooke College Scholarship Program and the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Cooke Scholars are eligible to apply within three years of completing their undergraduate degrees. Micon Garvilles, the recipient of the 2019 Cooke International Award, will receive up to $85,000 per year for up to four years of study at the University of Oxford. Each of the 2019 Cooke Graduate Scholarship recipients will be eligible to receive up to $75,000 total for up to four years.

Micon Garvilles earned her associate's degree from Kapi'olani Community College before transferring to the Rochester Institute of Technology as a Cooke Scholar. As a biotechnology and molecular bioscience and biomedical science double major, Micon worked on a research team studying the vesicular stomatitis virus. After graduating, she worked at a biotechnology company, first as a specialist in a DNA lab and later as an associate scientist.

"The motivation to deepen my studies in pharmacology was inspired by having met patients both in my work and community service, who were given hope through the positive impacts of research and medicine," Micon says of her plans to earn an M.Sc. in Pharmacology. She plans to attend medical school after she completes her studies at Oxford.

This year's cohort of Cooke Graduate Scholars are pursuing postgraduate degrees to achieve ambitious career goals in fields such as medicine and law.

At the University of Oklahoma, Daniella Royer majored in economics and math, with minors in Arabic and political science. Among her many honors, Daniella was named to the Society of Fellows by the Institute of American Constitutional Heritage. She also interned with the Institute of Religion and Democracy in Washington, DC. An avid musician, Daniella served as the assistant principal violist with the University of Oklahoma's Civic Orchestra. Daniella is multilingual and used her fluency in Arabic to assist refugees in Cairo, Egypt in 2018. She is attending Georgetown University Law School this fall.

Shawn Zamani is a recent graduate of the University of South Florida, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in public health. His deep commitment to epidemiology has encouraged Shawn to pursue opportunities in cancer research and HIV and sexual health counseling. He served as the director of public health at the USF Health BRIDGE Healthcare Clinic, and as an Amgen Scholar, Shawn interned at the National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health where he conducted independent research on esophageal cancer epidemiology. Shawn is pursuing his Ph.D. in epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, where he is also a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

A full list of the 2019 Cooke Graduate Scholars and Cooke International Award recipients, their undergraduate and graduate institutions, and hometowns can be found here.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the Foundation has awarded over $200 million in scholarships to over 2,600 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive educational advising and other support services. The Foundation has also provided $110 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. www.jkcf.org