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Benji Garland ’27 spent his Professional Experience summer at Kearney working on a first-of-its-kind telecommunications deal, and learned that the hardest part of systems work is explaining it to people.Benji Garland ’27 had never considered all the subtle, unsung aspects of his life powered by network infrastructure.Then the partner on the IT workstream described the impact of fiber networks: whe

Morehead-Cain Scholar Annabella Rozin ’29 and her team spent the summer listening to a Kentucky community imagining its downtown and its future.The interview was supposed to run an hour, maybe ninety minutes. Annabella Rozin ’29 and her teammates arrived at the park in their business clothes, notebooks ready.Three hours and several miles later, they were still walking.The man they’d come to interv

Anjali Sankale ’28 spent her Global Perspective summer in Dakar interviewing designers and artisans about sustainable fashion, and came home with a new framework for thinking about environmental systems.The constant clacking of looms filled the room.Inside textile designer Aïssa Dione’s large atelier in Dakar, weavers moved between machines, colorful threads, and large rolls of fabric. The energy,

Alexandra Newmark ’27 spent her Professional Experience summer at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, North Carolina, and came home with a new minor and career path.Shivers were wracking her body. The northern wind was brutal, and the water was colder than anything Alexandra Newmark ’27 had imagined when she signed up to survey a seagrass meadow.“I’m from the mountains, so I tho

Suhan Asaigoli ’27 spent his Professional Experience summer with the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Senegal and found that the best technology starts with understanding a community, not designing for it.For Suhan Asaigoli ’27, some of the most formative learning of the summer happened over tea.Not in conference rooms or at computer screens, but at home with his host family in Dakar sipping at

The Morehead-Cain Foundation has announced the 2027 Morehead-Cain Global Fellows, who begin a one-year fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC–Chapel Hill) this August.The twelve global fellows represent five countries—Brazil, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Turkey—with academic interests spanning biotechnology, computer engineering, law, nursing, and finance. They join a

Morehead-Cain Scholars spent the summer in Birmingham, Alabama, interviewing scholarship recipients, nonprofit staff, and program leaders to help Birmingham Promise build stronger pathways from college to careerOn the last day of her Civic Collaboration summer, Catalina Aldana-Archila ’28 felt the nerves rising as she and her teammates waited for the room to fill.The presentation was ready. What s

They’d just finished touring a dementia care facility and meeting its leaders when they stepped into the day activity space, where older adults spend time while their family caregivers get a few hours to work, rest, or handle their own lives. The team scattered to meet people, but Rayana Ba ’29 lingered for a second, working up the nerve to talk to someone. She sat beside a woman who was quietly c

Amy Stursberg of New York, New York, and Chris Schroeder of Washington, D.C., have joined the Morehead-Cain Foundation Board of Trustees, effective July 1.Stursberg is CEO of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Education Foundation. As CEO, she nurtured the Schwarzman Scholars program from an idea into one of the most prestigious postgraduate fellowships in the world

Morehead-Cain Alumni landed new jobs, received accolades, stepped into new seasons of life, and more. Here’s who made a move this summer.Richard Vinroot ’63 received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in June, one of the highest civilian honors granted by the Office of the Governor of North Carolina. It recognizes individuals with a proven record of extraordinary service to the state and their commun

In August 2025, twelve exceptional student leaders from around the world arrived at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC–Chapel Hill) as the inaugural cohort of Morehead-Cain Global Fellows. They came from Brazil, India, Nigeria, and Turkey, nominated by faculty at their home institutions for their demonstrated leadership impact and commitment to their communities.As they prepared

Civic Collaboration is one of the cornerstones of the Morehead-Cain Summer Enrichment Program, pairing teams of scholars with communities to solve real challenges and propose practical solutions. This summer, one team spent eight weeks in Centennial, Colorado, working with city staff to evaluate and expand the city’s sustainability efforts. Hosted by Melanie Ward, the city’s development foresight

Morehead-Cain has submitted a panel proposal for SXSW EDU 2027 titled “Degrees Don’t Transform Lives; Experiences Do.”The session, featuring Morehead-Cain President Chris Bradford, Allyson Horst ’27, Tai Huynh ’20, and Transylvania University President Brien Lewis ’90, explores how mentorship, real-world problem-solving, and hands-on experience help develop students in ways coursework alone cannot

In a recent Smartbrief article, Morehead-Cain President Chris Bradford makes the case that leadership development is philanthropy’s most powerful investment, especially as AI and automation reshape the future of work.Bradford argues that leadership functions as civic infrastructure, built through real-world experience rather than credentials alone. He writes that as technology transforms industrie

She had every reason to stay home. But when a team of Morehead-Cain Scholars sat down with her to ask why she’d gotten involved in her community’s response effort anyway, she didn’t hesitate.She couldn’t bear to see her neighbors isolated—unable to get food, unsure how to reach the people around them—she told them, as if there were no other option.That conversation was one of thirty-five the schol

Kemp Gouldin ’02 is the founder of Because Baseball, a nonprofit that uses baseball as a bridge for cross-cultural exchange and community-building in Egypt and beyond.On this episode, guest host Olu Kopano ’26 speaks with Kemp about the origins of Because Baseball, its impact in Egyptian schools, orphanages, and community programs, and how Morehead-Cain Scholars and Alumni have supported the organ

Morehead-Cain Alumni landed new jobs, received accolades, stepped into new seasons of life, and more. Here’s who made a move this spring.Richard Vinroot ’63 received the YMCA of Greater Charlotte’s John R. Mott Award and the Rotary Club of Charlotte’s Excellence in Leadership Award, recognizing his lifetime of civic leadership in Charlotte.Bill Bamberger ’79 had his exhibition Boys Will Be Men on

This story was originally published via the UNC Department of Applied Physical Sciences on May 4, 2026. Written by Dave DeFusco.Morehead-Cain Global Fellow Fadilullahi Ayodeji Adeniyi ’26 and doctoral student Vadim Shipitsyn in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found a simpler, cleaner way to prepare one of the most important parts

Andrew Powell ’79 has co-authored After Our Parents Won the War, a memoir that will be available for purchase on Amazon this June (ISBN 979-8-9956058-0-5).The book revisits the world of a boarding school in 1965, where Andrew and co-author John Miller arrived as boys at the tail end of the British Empire. Trading the grey icons of the postwar generation for new heroes—the Beatles, Muhammad Ali, an

This spring, the inaugural class of Morehead-Cain Global Fellows will conclude their year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This miniseries of the Catalyze podcast highlights members of the first class, featuring global fellows from Nigeria, Turkey, and India.In this episode, Ali Slack ’28 of the Scholar Media Team speaks with Morehead-Cain Global Fellow Güneş Tuğcu ’26 about her