News archive 2009

King's student at US president's inauguration

20 Jan 2009, PR 12/09

Faraz Mujtaba, a 19-year-old Computer Science student at King’s, will be among a select number of special guests in Washington DC today that will witness the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.  

His attendance is part of the University Presidential Inauguration Conference (UPIC), an exclusive event for alumni of the National Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF) and other distinguished organisations. Faraz is an alumnus of both the NYLF and its European sister programme, the Global Young Leaders Conference, which recognises young scholars as distinguished young leaders and accomplished students. 

‘It is definitely a unique opportunity and I'm very grateful to have the chance to go to’, Faraz said last week about his impending trip to the USA. ‘A year ago or so the invitation for this event just showed up in the post. It was a real surprise! I am not exactly sure how they made the decision as to who goes, but it’s an extremely limited number they invited - to my knowledge, no one else is going from any London university. I am very excited to be able to witness this moment in history; it will undoubtedly be a life changing experience.’ 

Inaugural Scholars will have the opportunity to personally witness the historic event of the presidential inauguration on the National Mall in Washington DC and take part in of a variety of events as part of the conference. These include keynote speeches by Al Gore, Former US Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and General Colin L Powell, Former US Secretary of State; panel discussions with political experts commenting on the presidential campaigns and topics of current political relevance; and a Black Tie Gala Inaugural Ball.  

Faraz grew up in the Middle East (initially Kuwait, then Bahrain), but has always been under the British education system. His passion for technology led him to go to the USA and Europe to further his interest. He is currently studying in his first year at King’s. 

He adds: ‘I'm very much looking forward to going and representing my university, King's College London, as well as the culturally diverse community in Bahrain, where I grew up.’ 

His personal tutor at King’s, Dr Kevin Lano, said: ‘I am pleased for Faraz that he has this unique opportunity to attend and to represent King's College at the inauguration, and I hope it will be a useful experience for him.’

[Image by Mel Haberstroh]

Waterfront Bar event

The American Studies Department invites all King's students, faculty, alumni and staff to watch the inauguration from 16.30 to 18.30 today at the Waterfront Bar, Macadam Building, Strand Campus. 

Notes to editors

King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has 19,700 students from more than 150 countries, and 5,400 employees. King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 60 per cent of research activity at King’s was deemed world-leading or internationally excellent. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of approximately £450 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to more Medical Research Council Centres than any other university.

Global Young Leaders Conference 
The Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) is a unique leadership development programme that brings together outstanding young people from around the world to build critical leadership skills in a global context.

GYLC offers students the opportunity to learn from and exchange ideas with some of the world's top business leaders, policy officials, lobbyists, journalists, diplomats and academics in the challenging and dynamic environments of Washington, D.C. and New York City; Vienna, Budapest and Prague; or Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. For more information see http://www.cylc.org/GYLC/index.cfm.  

University Presidential Inaugural Conference
The University Presidential Inaugural Conference (UPIC) offers alumni of the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF), the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), the International Scholar Laureate Program (ISLP) and members of select honours societies the opportunity to take part in and personally witness the historic event of the presidential inauguration and challenges students to greatly enhance their understanding of a presidential campaign.

Further information
Melanie Haberstroh, International Public Relations Officer
Email: melanie.haberstroh@kcl.ac.uk, Tel: 020 7848 3076

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