UNC Hussman students named Phillips Ambassadors

This story was originally published on phillips.unc.edu.

UNC Hussman students Sachi Akmal ’28, Gitzelle Enciso-Ramirez ’28 and Allison Royal ’28 were selected as a Phillips Ambassadors for summer 2026.

Six other undergraduates from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were selected as Phillips Ambassadors for Summer 2026 study abroad programs in Asia. Undergraduate scholarship recipients will study in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

The Phillips Ambassadors Program is a program of UNC’s Carolina Asia Center, in association with the Study Abroad Office. Phillips Ambassadors are selected twice a year and each receive a $7,000 scholarship. Selection is based on strong communication skills, intellectual curiosity and engagement, academic achievement, evidence of generous service to the campus and wider community and a previous record of leadership.

Twenty-five percent of the scholarships are reserved for qualified undergraduate business majors and minors at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Up to two scholarships each year are available to qualified Duke University undergraduates.

Phillips Ambassadors choose from more than 70 academic programs in Asia that are approved by the College of Arts & Sciences and Kenan-Flagler Business School. Scholarship recipients enroll in a three-credit hour global studies course designed uniquely for them. Led by Dr. Michael Tsin, the Earl N. Phillips Jr. Distinguished Professor of International Studies, the course challenges students to explore their study abroad locale in significant detail and seek understanding of the region in a global context.

A distinguishing feature of the program is an emphasis on what is called a “Give Back,” or sharing of one’s study abroad experience in Asia with the Carolina community and the student’s hometown. In accepting the scholarship, students agree to fulfill a Give Back related to their study abroad experience. Give Backs include endeavors such as published articles, presentations, art exhibitions and group projects focused on Asia.

The Phillips Ambassadors Program is made possible through a gift from Carolina alumnus Earl N. “Phil” Phillips Jr., an entrepreneur and former U.S. ambassador, and his family.
“Our goal with this gift has been to encourage more students to spend their study abroad experiences focused on Asia — an increasingly vital region of the future,” said Phillips, who splits his time between High Point and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The first group of Phillips Ambassadors studied abroad in Asia in the summer of 2007. Since then more than 480 Carolina undergraduates have studied abroad in Asia as Phillips Ambassadors. The Phillips Ambassadors Program also oversees the Phillips Passport Initiative, a scholarship to assist students in applying for their first passport, and UNC Phillips Summer in Asia, a faculty-led study abroad program that has been based in Shanghai and Taipei. For more information, visit phillips.unc.edu.

The new Phillips Ambassadors are listed below alphabetically by North Carolina county, followed by out-of-state recipients.

North Carolina ambassadors

Buncombe

• Gyani Patel of Asheville is studying through CET Shanghai in China. She is a physics major and a Chinese and Arabic double minor.

dare

• Gitzelle Enciso-Ramirez ’28 of Manteo is studying through Yonsei University in South Korea. She is a business and media and journalism double major.

union

• Esther Ghim of Cary is studying through Yonsei University in South Korea. She is a health policy and management and neuroscience double major.
• Sachi Akmal ’28 of Waxhaw is studying through UNC Phillips Summer in Taiwan. She is a history major and a business and journalism double minor.

wake

• Naomi Smith of Wake Forest is studying through UNC Summer in Japan. She is a psychology and computer science double major.

out-of-state ambassadors

• Will Carter of Scottsdale, Arizona, is studying through KFBS International Internship in Tokyo, Japan. He is a business and economics double major.
• Jarissa Molina of Bronx, New York, is studying through KFBS International Internship in Tokyo, Japan. She is an economics major and an urban studies and planning and real estate double minor.
• Ryan Parsaee of Malvern, Pennsylvania, is researching through Chinese University of Hong Kong Undergraduate Research Program. He is a neuroscience and health policy and management double major and a creative writing minor.
• Allison Royal ’28 of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is studying through KFBS Internship in Singapore. She is a business major and an advertising and public relations minor.