Irvin D. Reid Honors College student Nicholas Bashour, who was the 2004 valedictorian at Lincoln Park High School, has been named to the 2008-09 cohort of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP). He will receive up to $20,000 for tuition and other educational expenses during the academic year and will join the UGSP cohort as a researcher at the NIH this summer. Bashour is one of 14 students selected from a national pool of more than 200 applicants.

"We are very proud of Nick and extremely pleased that the National Institutes of Health has recognized him in this way," says Honors College Dean Jerry Herron. "Nick is a talented young scholar who has approached his undergraduate education in a truly interdisciplinary way, combining science, journalism, research and hands-on experiences."

This is not the first time Bashour - who is majoring in journalism and biological sciences, and pursuing University Honors - has been recognized for doing good research. In 2007 he was a member of Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the School of Medicine's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics. Also in 2007-08 he received a research grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research - housed in the Honors College - to support work done with medical school professor Gyula Acsadi.

"It\'s a great honor to be a National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholar. This provides a great opportunity, not just for me, but for other Wayne State students because it puts Wayne State and the Honors College on the map alongside Harvard and Yale," Bashour says. "Wayne State is a university that nurtures well-rounded, research-oriented students and provides excellent resources for their enrichment and education."

The city-based service-oriented Irvin D. Reid Honors College exemplifies Wayne State University's commitment to the urban experience and to the enrichment of teaching, service and research. It is the mission of Honors to promote informed, engaged citizenship as the foundation for academic excellence in a diverse global setting.

The program is home to more than 1,300 students who may choose their majors from among the 126 bachelor's degree programs offered by the university.

Contact: Adam Herman, Honors College
Voice: (313) 577-4621
E-mail: aherman@wayne.edu