U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar today congratulated Esther Uduehi, an Evansville senior at Indiana University Bloomington, for being one of 32 Americans to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.   Lugar, who was also a Rhodes Scholar, personally called Uduehi to congratulate her for her great academic achievements as a major in math and chemistry. In 2007, Lugar awarded Uduehi a $4,000 Senator Richard G. Lugar Scholarship from the Fund for Hoosier Excellence.   Lugar urged the creation of the Fund for Hoosier excellence to help successful minority high school students from throughout the state attend college in Indiana, and hopefully build their careers in Indiana as many have had.   “I told Esther how proud all Hoosiers are of her academic achievements,” Lugar said. “Whatever she does in the future, whatever she invents or new ideas she develops will help shape the future of our society, and the jobs and opportunities that follow.”   “I reminisced about my first trip outside the country when I sailed for London,” Lugar said. “It was a whole new world, which is now much more interconnected than it was then. I told Esther she will meet many people who will change her life forever, and to relish and foster every new friend and contact.”   While Lugar was at Oxford, he corresponded with U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, who also had a Rhodes Scholarship. Fulbright later established the U.S.-backed Fulbright Scholarship program. Fulbright also served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as has Lugar. Paul Sarbanes, another American Rhodes Scholar while Lugar was at Oxford, served with Lugar for many years in the U.S. Senate representing the state of Maryland.   Since the Fund for Hoosier Excellence was founded, more than $1.5 million has been awarded to more than 230 Hoosier students.   Amos Brown, of RADIO ONE in Indianapolis, serves as the master of ceremonies for the annual Fund for Hoosiers Excellence award dinner. “Annually the Lugar Scholars have showcased outstanding Hoosier minority students who have gone on to great success in their academic, professional and personal lives,” said Brown. “The news that a Lugar Scholar will have her name affixed to Senator Lugar’s on the roll of Rhodes Scholars is a testimony to all the Lugar scholars past and present and Senator Lugar’s vision to create a mechanism to reward academic excellence among Hoosier students.”   Uduehi graduated from Evansville Frances Joseph Reitz High School.   ###

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