Ghanaian, 18, wins Bill Gates scholarship award

An 18 year old Ghanaian, Ishmael Akahoho, has won the Bill Gates scholarship award for being the student with the highest grade point averages and sterling community service records.

The award known as the Gates Millennium Scholar is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The New York Daily News (NYDN) on June 28, 2011 reported that Ishmael Akahoho is one of 1,000 students across the US to be selected as a Gates Millennium Scholar.

According to the publication, Akahoho graduated last week from Brooklyn Academy of Science and Environment with a 3.9 average and is headed to Rochester Institute of Technology.

“My dad doesn’t really make a lot of money and me getting the scholarship means a lot to us,” Akahoho was quoted as saying by the NYDN.

Mary Williams, Director of Communications and Administration for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, said the Gates Millennium Scholars Program will provide them with financial support as well as personal and leadership development.

By Ekow Quandzie