Three of the United States’ brightest young graduates addressed students at the University of Ulster this week.

Michael Campbell, Reynaldo Fuentes and Michael Wilkerson visited the Magee campus as part of the Marshall Scholars’ Speakers Programme.

Marshall Scholarships are awarded annually by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to American graduates for study at any university in the United Kingdom.

Scholars are selected for their leadership potential as well as their academic excellence. As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars aim to strengthen the relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions.

Michael Campbell, who worked as a strategy analyst for the US Special Operations Command, is currently studying the nexus of conflict and development at King’s College, London.

Officer Campbell engaged second year History students in a discussion on the military challenges of the Vietnam War.

Reynaldo Fuentes, a former political consultant in Washington DC at the Council of State Governments, is completing an MPhil at the University of Cambridge.

Rey spoke to American Studies’ students on the intricacies of health care reform in the United States and the role of the Supreme Court in the process.

Michael Wilkerson, a Stanford University graduate who worked as a freelance journalist in Uganda where he set up a social enterprise to help motorcycle taxi drivers own their motorcycles, addressed Social Science students about democratisation in Uganda and micro-finance schemes.

Michael is presently pursuing an MPhil in Comparative Government at Oxford University.

Event organiser, Dianne Kirby, Reader in the School of English and History, said: “The University of Ulster has been hosting Marshall Scholars for over a decade. Through its dynamic Speakers Programme Ulster students have the opportunity to meet and engage with some of the most successful and inspirational young graduates coming out of the United States.

“We look forward to welcoming a further two Marshall Scholars to the Coleraine campus later this semester.”

For further information on the Marshall Scholarship Programme please contact Dianne Kirby at: d.kirby@ulster.ac.uk