Summer and Fall 2024 Ambassadors

CHAPEL HILL – Nineteen undergraduates from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were selected as Phillips Ambassadors for study abroad programs in Asia this summer and fall. Scholarship recipients will study in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

The Phillips Ambassadors Program is a program of UNC’s Carolina Asia Center, in association with the Study Abroad Office. Phillips Ambassadors are selected twice a year and each receive a $6,000 scholarship. Selection is based on strong communication skills, intellectual curiosity and engagement, academic achievement, evidence of generous service to the campus and wider community, and a previous record of leadership.

Twenty-five percent of the scholarships are reserved for qualified undergraduate business majors and minors at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Up to two scholarships each year are available to qualified Duke University undergraduates.

Phillips Ambassadors choose from more than 70 academic programs in Asia that are approved by the College of Arts & Sciences and Kenan-Flagler Business School. Scholarship recipients enroll in a three-credit hour global studies course designed uniquely for them. Led by UNC’s Earl N. Phillips Jr. Distinguished Professor of International Studies, Dr. Michael Tsin, the course challenges students to explore their study abroad locale in significant detail and seek understanding of the region in a global context.

A distinguishing feature of the program is an emphasis on what is called a “Give Back,” or sharing of one’s study abroad experience in Asia with the Carolina community and the student’s hometown. In accepting the scholarship, students agree to fulfill a Give Back related to their study abroad experience. Give Backs include endeavors such as published articles, presentations, art exhibitions, and group projects focused on Asia.

The Phillips Ambassadors Program is made possible through a gift from Carolina alumnus Earl N. “Phil” Phillips Jr., an entrepreneur and former U.S. ambassador, and his family.
“Our goal with this gift has been to encourage more students to spend their study abroad experiences focused on Asia — an increasingly vital region of the future,” said Phillips, who splits his time between High Point and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The first group of Phillips Ambassadors studied abroad in Asia in the summer of 2007. Since then more than 430 Carolina undergraduates have studied abroad in Asia as Phillips Ambassadors. The Phillips Ambassadors Program also oversees the Phillips Passport Initiative, a scholarship to assist students in applying for their first passport, and UNC Phillips Summer in Asia, a faculty-led study abroad program that has been based in Shanghai and Taipei. For more information, visit phillips.unc.edu.

The new Phillips Ambassadors are listed below alphabetically by North Carolina county, followed by out-of-state and international recipients.

NORTH CAROLINA AMBASSADORS

Cabarrus
Campbell Mah of Concord is studying through Yonsei University in South Korea. He is an English and biology double major and chemistry minor.

Cherokee
Emily Tomczak of Murphy is studying through Yonsei University in South Korea. She is a media and journalism and global studies double major and a Korean minor.

Dare
McRae Walker of Kill Devil Hills is studying through the UNC Summer in Japan program. He is an English major and a sexuality studies minor.

Davidson
Annika Deshpande of Davidson is studying through Yonsei University in South Korea. She is a global studies and economics double major.

Forsyth
Edmund Hattle of Winston-Salem is studying through the UNC Phillips Summer in Taiwan program. He is an Asian studies and computer science double major.

Gaston
Persephone Myers of Gastonia is studying through Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. She is a media and journalism major and an information science minor.

Henderson
Ava Moss of Hendersonville is interning in Singapore through a Kenan-Flagler business school international internship program. She is a business major and a media and journalism and philosophy, politics, and economics double minor.

Lee
Bennett Lasater of Broadway is studying through the UNC Phillips Summer in Taiwan program. He is a history major and an education minor.

Mecklenburg
Grayce McCarley of Charlotte is studying through National University of Singapore. She is a global studies and Asian studies double major and an art history minor.

Gavin Scott of Matthews is interning in Singapore through a Kenan-Flagler business school international internship program. He is a business major.

Joanna Yeh of Charlotte is studying through the UNC Phillips Summer in Taiwan program. She is a women’s and gender studies and political science double major and a Chinese minor.

Orange
Ingrid Russell of Chapel Hill is conducting research through Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a physics major and an Asian studies minor.

Scotland
Ava Reeder of Laurinburg is studying through the UNC Phillips Summer in Taiwan program. She is a biology and exercise and sport science double major.

Union
Yelia Yu of Waxhaw is conducting research through Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a nutrition major and a health and society minor.

Wake
Bevin Adams of Holly Springs is studying through Yonsei University in South Korea. She is a global studies and sociology double major and composition, rhetoric, and digital literacy minor.

Matthew Klein of Cary is studying through Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School. He is a business major.

OUT-OF-STATE AND INTERNATIONAL AMBASSADORS

Charles Fox-Smith of St. Francisville, Louisville, is studying through the UNC Phillips Summer in Taiwan program. He is a pre-business major.

Makayla Ivy Dawson of White Plains, New York, is studying through Korea University Business School. She is a business major and a mathematics minor.

Tommy Zucchinali of Rome, Italy, is studying through National University of Singapore. He is an environmental science major and a geographic information science minor.