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University of Pennsylvania junior Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo has been awarded a 2021 Beinecke Scholarship to pursue a graduate education in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Each 2021 Scholar receives $4,000 upon completion of undergraduate studies and an additional $30,000 to support graduate study, with no geographic restrictions.
Okonkwo is one of only 16 Beinecke Scholars chosen throughout the United States, and the 14th recipient from Penn since the award was first given in 1975. Universities may nominate only one student, and this year there were about 100 applicants. This is the third consecutive year that a Penn student has been named a Beinecke Scholar.
Okonkwo, from Los Angeles, is majoring in philosophy and history with concentrations in moral and political philosophy and world history in the School of Arts & Sciences. She is also pursuing minors in Africana studies; gender, sexuality, and women’s studies; and Native American and Indigenous studies. She sub-matriculated into the philosophy master’s program and will be receiving her master’s degree along with her bachelor’s degree upon graduation in 2022.