In October 2009, Thabo Msibi (Ed.M., 2008), of KwaZulu, South Africa, who now teaches in South Africa, became the first Teachers College student or alumni to be awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship since the program began in 2001. At Cambridge, Msibi–one of 90 new Gates Cambridge Scholars chosen this year–will study for a master’s degree and, possibly, a Ph.D. in education.

Since the start of the Scholarship Program in 2001, 725 students from more than 75 countries have taken up their scholarships at Cambridge, including more than 300 graduates of more than 100 U.S. colleges and universities. More than 530 Scholars have completed their studies at Cambridge and have now gone on to other fields of endeavor around the world.