Jamila Ezbidi ’19 awarded Gates Scholarship

Jamila Ezbidi ’19 has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge. Ezbidi is one of 77 scholars selected from 30 different countries who make up the Class of 2020.

At Conn, Ezbidi was a CISLA scholar, and majored in architectural studies and international relations. She served as Student Government Association president in 2017-2018.

The international postgraduate scholarship program was launched in 2000 with a $210 million donation to the University of Cambridge from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which remains the largest single donation in history to a UK university.

Eighty percent of Gates scholars will pursue Ph.D.s and their subjects range from the impact of climate change on coastal birds and rabies control to indigenous rights in New Zealand, the history of uncertainty in polar climate science and the moral basis of identity-based harm.

Stephen Toope, the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and chair of the Gates Cambridge Trustees, said, “The Gates Cambridge Scholars are an outstanding group of people. They have not only demonstrated exceptional academic abilities in their fields, but have also shown a real commitment to engaging with the world—and to changing it for the better.”