Women shining examples of Rotary scholarship winners

Two accomplished young women who addressed the Boulder Rotary Club this month are examples of how the best and the brightest win Rotary International’s scholarships for postgraduate education.

Jennifer Byrd, the newest member of the Vocal Music Department at the University of Colorado’s College of Music, told of her Ambassadorial Scholar experience in Germany, and what it has meant to her life and her career.

Adrian Davis, major gifts development officer for the Denver Rescue Mission, served as a Rotary International Peace Fellow, which paid for two years of study in five countries on promoting world peace.

“These are remarkable programs for remarkable people,” as one Rotarian said.

Byrd took part in the graduate scholarship program begun by The Rotary Foundation begun in memory of Rotary founder Paul Harris, who in the early 20th Century spent five years following his college graduation working his way around the world doing whatever work he could find, to better appreciate the world and its people.

Byrd used her grant to study at the Conservatory in Hamburg, Germany, and launched her career by joining the company of a regional opera house in Bavaria. Now a recognized soloist, she hopes to keep Boulder as her base as she continues to teach, sing and raise a family. She is grateful for the opportunities her Ambassadorial Scholarship provided.

Adrian Davis is a graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Her Rotary Peace Fellowship provided master's degree study for two years at selected universities with programs in studies promoting world peace. Her work in international policy and security studies was at Bradford University in the United Kingdom, but she also traveled to India, Brazil, Peru and Bali for additional study, gathering field data and experience.

Davis was a founder of Rotaract, Rotary’s club for college students, at Colorado College, and is now a member of Denver Mile-Hi Rotary.

Her area of study, the effect of catastrophe and reconstruction on vulnerable populations, applies everywhere in the world, Davis said, with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans an example in the United States. She focused on how the vulnerable can be protected and nourished effectively, efficiently and affordably when disaster strikes.

Davis’s work at the Denver Rescue Mission focuses on fundraising needs for a $20 million annual budget that provides services to thousands of people.

Ambassadorial Scholarships honor Rotary’s founder, Paul Harris. They provide grants of $25,000 to help the scholar study for one year at the master's degree level at a university away from the scholar's home country.

The newer Peace Fellowships provide a two-year payment of $25,000 per year, allowing postgraduate study of issues related to furthering world peace. Special programs are offered at selected universities worldwide.

Applications for next year’s grants are due April 15 for the Peace Fellowship and May 3 for the Ambassadorial Scholarship. Applications and full information are available at the Rotary International web site, http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/EducationalPrograms/Pages....

Boulder Rotary contact is Valorie Goodall Mooney, bmooney303@aol.com or 303-545-0191.



For more information on Rotary, see www.boulderrotary.org or www.rotary.org.

BOULDER ROTARY CLUB
5390 Manhattan Circle, Suite 101 Boulder, Colorado, 80303
303-554-7074 Rotary@roycearbour.com
Fax 720-304-3255 www.BoulderRotary.org


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Contact: Sue Deans, 303-579-9580