Heart of Belmont award winner Rami Nofal lives out University mission to ‘engage and transform world’ with new appointments
Belmont University alumnus Rami Nofal (’13) was recently selected for two distinguished, international opportunities: a fellowship at prestigious Cambridge University and a stint in Ghana serving with the Peace Corps.
Nofal—who graduated in May earning degrees in international business (marketing and Arabic), finance and economics with a minor in political science—won one of Belmont University’s highest honors in April when he was selected to receive the John Williams Heart of Belmont award. The Heart of Belmont award recognizes a student who demonstrates commitment to service, initiative, innovation, persistence, advocacy, and maturity, among other qualities. He also was actively involved with the two-time National Champion and 2012 World Cup-winning Enactus team.
A 2009 graduate of Nashville’s Overton High School, Nofal will next participate Aug. 18-30 in the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship at Cambridge University in England. This Fellowship is the premier gold standard of social entrepreneurship intersected with cross-cultural exchange for global minded change agents. Nofal’s acceptance letter noted, “Your selection as a Fellow reflects the careful judgment of prominent scholars that you meet the Fellowship’s rigorous criteria for admission, emphasizing both excellence in the quality of your civic engagement and your serious contribution to social enterprise.”
Nofal said, “I am the youngest person to receive this fellowship since its inception, and I know that I will learn so much about what it means to truly be a change agent, both at the grass roots and macro levels, from my well qualified peers in the cohort and world renowned scholars and practitioners who will guide our level of understanding in the process.”
Following the Fellowship, Nofal will depart for a two-year stint in Ghana with the Peace Corps. He will serve as an agricultural economic advisor to the Ministry of Foods and Agriculture and the Ministry of Land and Forestry of Ghana, working on “Feed the Future,” which is the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Over the next five years, Feed the Future in Ghana aims to help an estimated 860,000 vulnerable Ghanaian women, children and family members—mostly smallholder farmers—escape hunger and poverty. In addition to working on this project on the grass roots level, Nofal will also be serving as an educator by implementing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Nofal noted, “My aspirations for the Peace Corps really stem from my desire and passion to be the change I want to see in the world. I am eager and prepared to take what I have learned through the short 21 years of my life and be able to apply it to community, business and economic development.”
