Alumni Gazette

Two alumni are among 92 people worldwide to be awarded the 2018 Gates Cambridge Scholarship—considered the most prestigious international postgraduate scholarship offered by the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Levan Bokeria ’14 and Garrett Rubin ’12E, ’13 (T5) were selected from a pool of 5,798 applicants on the basis of their intellectual ability, commitment to improving the lives of others, leadership potential, and academic fit with Cambridge.

Bokeria will pursue a PhD in biological science at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge. He was born and raised in Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia, and transferred from George Mason University to Rochester, where he majored in philosophy and brain and cognitive sciences. A Phi Beta Kappa member, he earned highest distinction honors in both of his majors.

After Rochester, Bokeria continued his scientific training at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he was a research assistant and laboratory manager. He is now at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, in the Netherlands, and will graduate in August with a master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience.

Rubin will pursue a PhD in education at Cambridge, with a focus on the sociology of education in armed conflict. Last year, the Roseville, California, native completed a master of philosophy in education, globalization, and international development at Cambridge, through support from Rotary International’s Global Grant Scholarship program.

While studying voice at Eastman, Rubin completed a Take Five Scholar program entitled US–Middle Eastern Cultural Diplomacy and was honored with the Presidential Award for Community Service. In 2013, he also won a Fulbright mtv-U Award to Jordan. Given to just four applicants each year, the mvt-U grant supports projects that promote music as a global force for mutual understanding.

Three other alumni—David Liebers ’09, Anjalene Whittier ’14, and Pedro Vallejo-Ramirez ’16—have won the scholarship in previous years. Vallejo-Ramirez was selected while still a student at Rochester. —Jim Mandelaro