The Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation Announces Ninth Annual Class of Scholarship Recipients in a Ceremony Attended by the Minister of Social Solidarity; Total Number of Scholarships Awarded Reaches 138
10 June 2015 Download
Qalaa Holdings remains committed to providing Egyptian youth with unparalleled opportunities to pursue graduate studies abroad at some of the world’s most prestigious universities. The 2015-2016 class of scholars includes 17 students representing 6 governorates throughout Egypt
The Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation (QHSF), Egypt’s largest private-sector funded scholarship program, has to date awarded 138 Egyptian students full scholarships to pursue master’s-level studies in the United States and Europe at top-tier universities on the condition that they return to Egypt to work in their chosen field following the completion of their studies.
The Ninth Annual class of scholarship recipients was announced yesterday in a ceremony attended by the Minister of Social Solidarity HE Ghada Waly.
Waly stressed the importance of the role of civil society and all its institutions including NGO’s to support education in Egypt. “Education is the main tool that will empower our younger generations and allow them to build a better future. These initiatives aim to encourage and support education by providing scholarships to help talented students earn graduate degrees that will in turn help them contribute to building a more effective and innovative society,” said Waly. She also emphasized the importance of joint efforts between the government and the private sector in order to better equip our youth so that they may compete effectively on the job market.
The 17 students who were awarded scholarships include 6 females and 11 males who will be studying social sciences, medicine & life sciences, computer sciences, engineering, natural sciences, architecture and arts in the U.S., the U.K, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway.
“Today, Egypt is at a crossroads. Now that the country has regained some measure of political and economic stability it has become more crucial than ever that we turn our attention to education, said Ambassador Hussein El-Khazindar, Secretary General of the Board of Trustees of the Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation. “By providing our youth with educational opportunities that they may not have otherwise had access to, we are enabling them to make a positive impact on the economic and social well being of the country.”
The QHSF (formerly the Citadel Capital Scholarship Foundation, CCSF) was founded by Qalaa Holdings (formerly Citadel Capital) in 2007 as a part of the company’s commitment to education and human capital development in Egypt and across the region. Each year the foundation awards scholarships to 15-20 students and has thus far awarded 138 scholarships in total to talented young Egyptian men and women from 12 governorates to study in a wide variety of disciplines including filmmaking, anthropology, arts, business, engineering, architecture, nanotechnology, environmental development and political and economic development.
“Egypt's ability to create a new generation of young leaders is dependent upon how well we can educate our youth. We believe that Education is a key component of our ongoing reform process as a country. At Qalaa Holdings we have continued to deliver on our commitment to education and human capital development through various initiatives in Egypt and across the region. Even on the level of our subsidiary companies, community development projects have focused on education on all levels including technical and vocational training as well as higher education," said Qalaa Holdings Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal who also highlighted the need for the immediate reform and modernization of Egypt's system of education.
Qalaa Holdings Co-Founder and Managing Director Hisham El-Khazindar also stressed the role of the private sector in reforming education. "The Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation is an extension of our belief that the private sector must help lead positive change. By investing in the graduate education of 138 of Egypt's brightest young scholars over the past 9 years, including this year's class of 17 scholars, we are investing in the future development of the country as these young men and women are required to return to Egypt upon the completion of their various Masters and PhD programs," said El-Khazindar.
“The scholarships that we grant each year are essentially a reaffirmation of our belief that entrepreneurs are the backbone of our economy. We hope that our scholarship recipients will be able to transfer the knowledge that they have gained in a manner that will benefit their broader communities,” he added.
In addition to supporting community-based vocational training initiatives at the subsidiary level, Qalaa Holdings has also endowed the Qalaa Holdings Financial Services Center, while El-Khazindar has personally endowed the Khazindar Business Research and Case Studies Center, both at the American University in Cairo. Qalaa Holdings’ cement subsidiary, ASEC Cement, has partnered with the United Nations World Food Program to provide healthy meals to more than 3,000 children in public schools in the governorate of Minya. Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the primary investment of Africa Railways, Qalaa Holdings’ subsidiary company for investment in the African railway sector, also offers training programs in management and entrepreneurship to further encourage sustainable development and private enterprise in the neighboring communities.
"Making a positive social impact in the communities in which we invest has always been a core value at Qalaa Holdings. One of Egypt’s most attractive assets is its youth demographic. This burgeoning working age population’s full potential can only be harnessed through education. By lending our support to education we are providing new generations with much needed hope for the future,” said Ghada Hammouda, CMO and Head of Marketing Communications at Qalaa Holdings.
Recipients of Qalaa Holdings’ Scholarships have attended top international institutions including Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Wharton, Pratt, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Cornell, Tufts and Columbia in the United States; Oxford, Cambridge, the University of London, University College London, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom; Lund University in Sweden; University of Heidelberg in Germany; University of Helsinki in Finland; Ghent University in Belgium; and ESADE Business School in Spain, among other top universities and institutes.
Governorates represented by this year’s class of scholarship recipients include Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura, Beni Suef, Qena and Menoufia.
Name University Field
Engy Saleh London School of Economics Masters of Public Administration
Sara Abdou Wageningen University Msc in Biotechnology
Lujain Salama London School of Economics MSc in Social Policy & Development
Mohamed Issam Queen Mary MSc in Surgical Sciences
Khaled El Kammar University of Edinburg MSc in Music Composition for Screen
Karim Labib ETH Zurich MSc in Computer Science
Mahmoud Hefny University College London Msc in Renewable Geothermal Energy
George Nesr Imperial College London MSc in Clinical Research
Mohamed Ossama Chalmers & Norwegian University of Science & Tech MSc in Urban Planning
Youma Farag Cambridge University MSc in Advanced Computer Science
Mohamed Dawoud University College London MSc in Architecture
Ahmed Mostafa University of California, Berkeley MSc in Nuclear Engineering
Omar Mahfouz Imperial College London MSc in Computational Methods for Aeronautics
Esraa El Sheikh University College London MSc in Social Policy & Social Research
Ahmed Hassanein Nottingham University MSc in Molecular & Cellular Science
Hatem Wafa King's College London MSc in Public Health
Mohamed Rabie University of Glasgow LLM
The Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation (QHSF), Egypt’s largest private-sector funded scholarship program, has to date awarded 138 Egyptian students full scholarships to pursue master’s-level studies in the United States and Europe at top-tier universities on the condition that they return to Egypt to work in their chosen field following the completion of their studies.
The Ninth Annual class of scholarship recipients was announced yesterday in a ceremony attended by the Minister of Social Solidarity HE Ghada Waly.
Waly stressed the importance of the role of civil society and all its institutions including NGO’s to support education in Egypt. “Education is the main tool that will empower our younger generations and allow them to build a better future. These initiatives aim to encourage and support education by providing scholarships to help talented students earn graduate degrees that will in turn help them contribute to building a more effective and innovative society,” said Waly. She also emphasized the importance of joint efforts between the government and the private sector in order to better equip our youth so that they may compete effectively on the job market.
The 17 students who were awarded scholarships include 6 females and 11 males who will be studying social sciences, medicine & life sciences, computer sciences, engineering, natural sciences, architecture and arts in the U.S., the U.K, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway.
“Today, Egypt is at a crossroads. Now that the country has regained some measure of political and economic stability it has become more crucial than ever that we turn our attention to education, said Ambassador Hussein El-Khazindar, Secretary General of the Board of Trustees of the Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation. “By providing our youth with educational opportunities that they may not have otherwise had access to, we are enabling them to make a positive impact on the economic and social well being of the country.”
The QHSF (formerly the Citadel Capital Scholarship Foundation, CCSF) was founded by Qalaa Holdings (formerly Citadel Capital) in 2007 as a part of the company’s commitment to education and human capital development in Egypt and across the region. Each year the foundation awards scholarships to 15-20 students and has thus far awarded 138 scholarships in total to talented young Egyptian men and women from 12 governorates to study in a wide variety of disciplines including filmmaking, anthropology, arts, business, engineering, architecture, nanotechnology, environmental development and political and economic development.
“Egypt's ability to create a new generation of young leaders is dependent upon how well we can educate our youth. We believe that Education is a key component of our ongoing reform process as a country. At Qalaa Holdings we have continued to deliver on our commitment to education and human capital development through various initiatives in Egypt and across the region. Even on the level of our subsidiary companies, community development projects have focused on education on all levels including technical and vocational training as well as higher education," said Qalaa Holdings Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal who also highlighted the need for the immediate reform and modernization of Egypt's system of education.
Qalaa Holdings Co-Founder and Managing Director Hisham El-Khazindar also stressed the role of the private sector in reforming education. "The Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation is an extension of our belief that the private sector must help lead positive change. By investing in the graduate education of 138 of Egypt's brightest young scholars over the past 9 years, including this year's class of 17 scholars, we are investing in the future development of the country as these young men and women are required to return to Egypt upon the completion of their various Masters and PhD programs," said El-Khazindar.
“The scholarships that we grant each year are essentially a reaffirmation of our belief that entrepreneurs are the backbone of our economy. We hope that our scholarship recipients will be able to transfer the knowledge that they have gained in a manner that will benefit their broader communities,” he added.
In addition to supporting community-based vocational training initiatives at the subsidiary level, Qalaa Holdings has also endowed the Qalaa Holdings Financial Services Center, while El-Khazindar has personally endowed the Khazindar Business Research and Case Studies Center, both at the American University in Cairo. Qalaa Holdings’ cement subsidiary, ASEC Cement, has partnered with the United Nations World Food Program to provide healthy meals to more than 3,000 children in public schools in the governorate of Minya. Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the primary investment of Africa Railways, Qalaa Holdings’ subsidiary company for investment in the African railway sector, also offers training programs in management and entrepreneurship to further encourage sustainable development and private enterprise in the neighboring communities.
"Making a positive social impact in the communities in which we invest has always been a core value at Qalaa Holdings. One of Egypt’s most attractive assets is its youth demographic. This burgeoning working age population’s full potential can only be harnessed through education. By lending our support to education we are providing new generations with much needed hope for the future,” said Ghada Hammouda, CMO and Head of Marketing Communications at Qalaa Holdings.
Recipients of Qalaa Holdings’ Scholarships have attended top international institutions including Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Wharton, Pratt, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Cornell, Tufts and Columbia in the United States; Oxford, Cambridge, the University of London, University College London, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom; Lund University in Sweden; University of Heidelberg in Germany; University of Helsinki in Finland; Ghent University in Belgium; and ESADE Business School in Spain, among other top universities and institutes.
Governorates represented by this year’s class of scholarship recipients include Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura, Beni Suef, Qena and Menoufia.
Name University Field
Engy Saleh London School of Economics Masters of Public Administration
Sara Abdou Wageningen University Msc in Biotechnology
Lujain Salama London School of Economics MSc in Social Policy & Development
Mohamed Issam Queen Mary MSc in Surgical Sciences
Khaled El Kammar University of Edinburg MSc in Music Composition for Screen
Karim Labib ETH Zurich MSc in Computer Science
Mahmoud Hefny University College London Msc in Renewable Geothermal Energy
George Nesr Imperial College London MSc in Clinical Research
Mohamed Ossama Chalmers & Norwegian University of Science & Tech MSc in Urban Planning
Youma Farag Cambridge University MSc in Advanced Computer Science
Mohamed Dawoud University College London MSc in Architecture
Ahmed Mostafa University of California, Berkeley MSc in Nuclear Engineering
Omar Mahfouz Imperial College London MSc in Computational Methods for Aeronautics
Esraa El Sheikh University College London MSc in Social Policy & Social Research
Ahmed Hassanein Nottingham University MSc in Molecular & Cellular Science
Hatem Wafa King's College London MSc in Public Health
Mohamed Rabie University of Glasgow LLM