Future leaders

Two UNSW students have been recognised for their academic excellence and outstanding personal achievement through the 2009 Australian Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program.

Shashank Ramakrishnan and Arwin Soetanto were each awarded a Goldman Sachs fellowship valued at US$3,000.

The pair joins a group of 100 outstanding students from around the world to be awarded the prestigious fellowships. The Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program, run by the Institute of International Education and the Goldman Sachs Foundation, seeks to acknowledge and reward leaders of the future. The annual fellowships are awarded not only for academic performance but also for contribution to the community.

Shashank is a second-year Commerce student and Co-op Scholar in Finance, and was on the Australian Business School's 2009 Dean's List of Awards for Academic Excellence. He is an active member of the Co-op Scholarships Charitable Society and has volunteered at the Indian Link Community Newspaper. Shashank has a particular interest in the alleviation of poverty, hoping someday to adapt a model pioneered by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and replicated in Silicon Valley by Kiva

Arwin, a second-year Commerce/Economics student and Scientia Scholar, also placed on the Australian Business School's 2009 Dean's List of Awards for Academic Excellence. Arwin spends a lot of his time volunteering with organisations that help mentally challenged children and the homeless. Arwin is interested in social entrepreneurship projects, in particular the provision of education and financial management to homeless people.

Two other UNSW students - Lizhe Sun (Electrical Engineering/Law) and Vishaal Sharma (Commerce/Law) - placed in the top 10 candidates in Australia.

Media contact: Marie Kelly | 9385 5895 | mariek@unsw.edu.au