Out of thousands of candidates from over 1200 universities all over the world, Nankai University student Fuqin (Kook) Hu is one of 10 global recipients of the McCall MacBain Scholarships at McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

Designed to encourage purposeful leadership, the McCall MacBain Scholarships enable students to pursue a fully funded master’s or professional degree at McGill, while participating in mentorship, coaching, and a leadership development program.

Kook is one of two students from China to earn this award. He underwent a rigorous seven-month selection process, including a final round of interviews in Montréal.

“This scholarship means recognition, encouragement and inspiration,” he said. “A marks-based evaluation criterion seldom recognizes the effort in real community engagement.”

Each scholar was chosen based on their character, community engagement, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, academic strength, and intellectual curiosity.

Kook is studying international politics at Nankai University. He was twice named an outstanding teaching assistant and, as the teaching assistant team lead for a course, created a system for students to provide feedback. Kook also led publicity for an exhibition about China’s first Premier Zhou Enlai, provided free courses for children, and interned with a United Nations regional office in China.

He plans to pursue a master’s degree at McGill, with the hope of contributing to international development and cooperation between countries in the Global South.

“Kook’s selection is a tribute to the time and energy he has put into improving the lives of others,” said Natasha Sawh, Dean of the McCall MacBain Scholarships. “Our volunteers looked not only for academic strength, but for leadership qualities like integrity, kindness, grit, and an ability to motivate a team to address tough challenges.”

With Kook’s success, Nankai University has established cooperation with McCall MacBain Scholarships and will be able to nominate 10 students for the scholarship instead of 1 as other non-cooperative universities. Applications will open in June 2023 for September 2024 admission.