June 9, 2010

Elisha Gentle. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Recent University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) graduate Elisha Gentle, 22, of Morris, Okla., has been named to the USA Today 2010 All-USA College Academic Third Team, a prestigious ranking that names him as one of the top 60 college students in the United States.

USA Today published the winners in a special section Wednesday, June 9. Academic team members are recognized for outstanding intellectual achievement and leadership. Judges considered grades, leadership, activities and, most importantly, how students extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.

Gentle, who also is the recipient of a 2010-11 Rotary Club International Ambassadorial scholarship, graduated in May from the UAB School of Business with a degree in economics with a concentration in Philosophy and Political Economy (PPE). Gentle was also a student in the University Honors Program. As a Rotary Scholar, he will spend the 2010-11 academic year completing a master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. Ultimately, Gentle says, he plans to be a consultant to development agencies in North Africa and the Middle East and wants to work to establish American educational institutions in the Maghreb.

Gentle's interest in the cultures of the Middle East was fostered while he minored in Arabic at UAB through the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. He is the son of Lisa Lewis of Morris, Okla., and Scot [sic] Gentle of Birmingham.

About UAB

Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer. For more information, please visit www.uab.edu.