Some exciting news about my buddy Ankur!!


"Medill alumnus AnkurBahl has won a Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious of all academic fellowships, equivalent to the Rhodes. Ankur was interviewed by a Marshall committee this weekend in San Francisco, where he was told that he has won a Marshall. Formal announcement of the award will be made in about a week following a meeting of the British Ambassador's Advisory Council. A Marshall Scholarship provides two years of all-expense-paid study at any British university. The scholarships were started by an Act of Parliament in 1953 as a way to commemorate the Marshall Plan and to thank the American people. Up to 40 Marshall scholars are selected each year. While Medill has had three Rhodes scholars over the years, Ankur ranks as our first Marshall winner. He entered Medill in September 1999 and finished the Accelerated Master's Program last December, receiving the bachelor's degree "magna cum laude." Ankur completed the Teaching Television Program in the fall of 2001 at KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, SD, and last fall, he was a Medill News Service reporter in Washington for WCAX-TV in Burlington, VT. This academic year, Ankur is a Fulbright Scholar. He is studying ballet, jazz and modern dance at CAFEDANSE, a conservatory in Aix-en-Provence, France. In a statement submitted to the Marshall committee, Ankur wrote: "As a Marshall Scholar, I will undertake two courses of study essential to accomplishing my goal of becoming an artist and scholar chronicling Indian migration. First, I will read for an MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Second, I will pursue an MA in Performance from Goldsmiths College at the University of London.... My vision is to create performances about Indian migrants that encourage broader understanding between native-born and immigrant people." Congratulations, Ankur!!

A message from Sara Vaux, director of the NU Fellowships Office, is below, followed by information on the Marshall from the program's web site.

AnkurBahl, a Medill alum and Fulbright Scholar to France, has won a Marshall Scholarship! He plans to engage in two programs of study in London to prepare to become an "artist and scholar" who chronicles Indian migration and interprets the immigrant community's experience for non-immigrant audiences. He will read for the MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS, then seek the MA in Performance from Goldsmiths College (both University of London). In his own words, he plans to "study the work of immigrant artists to examine how artistic forms are affect by relocation.... I intend to work as a performance artist, using Bharatanatyam [south-Indian classical dance] as a base to tell the stories of immigrant communities." Among Ankur's many NU mentors we list Billy Siegenfeld, Jack Doppelt, Larry Stuelpnagel, and Joe Angotti, and the Medill talent search activists: Roger Boye and Michele Bitoun, the two scouts who first called Ankur to our attention; Richard Roth; and Loren Ghiglione. A few Ankur facts: Team World Champion and US National Event Champion in Jump Rope; NU Homecoming King; founder of WASABI! (Asian-American improv comedy), Wm. Randolph Hearst Foundation National Television News Competitions scholar.......for starters!"

Ankur is one of my oldest friends (and my first ever formal date) and I am SUPER proud of him. Yay Ankur!!!