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A Boulder-raised student is one of 36 recent college graduates chosen nationwide for a prestigious scholarship to fund up to three years of graduate studies in the United Kingdom.
Ghael Fobes was raised in Boulder and graduated from Syracuse University in 2022. He’s an associate White House producer for NBC and will use the scholarship to study data and artificial intelligence ethics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
“I’m very excited,” Fobes said. “It was something of a process to apply and go through interviews, and I’m super excited about this opportunity to study in the UK and build relationships with journalists and researchers over there.”
Fobes lived in Mexico with his mother before moving to Boulder when he was 5 years old. He came to live with his father, a University of Colorado Boulder professor, and didn’t speak English when he first arrived.
Fobes attended Whittier Elementary School and Casey Middle School. He then attended Boulder High School for one year before attending an out-of-state boarding school.
Audrey Wintory was Fobes’ fourth-grade teacher at Whittier. She’s amazed and excited by his accomplishment.
“There’s some (students) that stick with you,” Wintory said. “He’s one that always stuck in my mind and wondered about and knew he’d be successful.”
The Marshall Scholarship was created by an Act of the British Parliament in 1953 as a living memorial to former U.S. Secretary of State General George C. Marshall and American assistance provided following World War II. The scholarship funds up to three years of graduate study in any academic topic at any university in the United Kingdom, home to 17 of the top 100 universities in the world, according to a release.
More than 2,200 Americans have earned advanced degrees through the program since its first class 70 years ago. The program has several notable alumni, including university presidents, six Pulitzer Prize winners, two Nobel Laureates, 14 MacArthur Fellows, two-academy-Award nominees, two U.S. Supreme Court Justices and a NASA Astronaut.
This year, the scholarship program received 983 applications and chose 36 candidates.
The data and AI ethics program at the University of Edinburgh focuses largely on questions of what it means to adopt the new technology. His interest is in how people can use AI responsibly to gather and present news. He wants to better understand the limitations, obstacles, risks and opportunities it presents.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunities on how we use AI to take on research tasks or sifting through databases or government data,” Fobes said.
In his work covering the White House for NBC, he often writes up notes about the many events and White House briefings. With an AI tool, he could take a more than hour-long briefing and easily identify highlights and the news people need to know.
“The most important thing as we’re beginning to adopt those things is to make sure we’re doing things accurately and are as rigorous and thoughtful in our approach as we would be without them,” Fobes said, adding, “It is a tool and not a replacement, and I think that’s really, really important.”
His love for news and technology started early. When his dad was a graduate student, the two would go to Trident in downtown Boulder. While his dad graded papers, Fobes read the stacks of newspapers it had. At Casey Middle School, he started an entrepreneur’s club and became interested in how to use tools to make things faster.
“When I was a middle schooler, I remember I was fascinated with Apple and ran a little early newsletter online where I complied Apple news,” he said.
He remembers going on many outdoor adventures with his dad and riding bikes down the path near Boulder Creek. Fobes enjoys skiing and lived close to the CU Boulder campus.
“I think one of the things my dad taught me early on … he taught me early on there’s so much to learn from the people who live in the community,” Fobes said.
His dad, Alex Fobes, said he’s proud and excited for his son.
“I feel like he’s cut out his own path for himself,” Alex Fobes said.
Wintory said Ghael Fobes was always a bright, hardworking and amazing kid all around. He was easy to connect with and got along with everyone. He was thoughtful and insightful. From her communications with him now, she can tell those parts of him are still core to who he is.
“I really admire that he’s pursuing this field of study and I just think he’s so amazing that he’s pursuing it abroad,” Wintory said, adding, “He’s just really still working so hard and shooting for the moon and it’s really exciting. I have no doubt he’ll excel in his studies and whatever comes after.”
Ghael Fobes will earn two one-year master’s degrees through the program. The first will be a master’s in data and AI ethics and the second will be a master’s in future governance. The scholarship will pay for his flights, living stipend, housing, food and research.
“I want to ultimately go back to NBC and lead more efforts into incorporating these technologies into our daily workflows,” Ghael Fobes said. “I think that’s what I find most interesting and rewarding is the practical applications.”
His dad is looking forward to where he goes from here.
“I’m excited to see what path he chooses,” Alex Fobes said. “I expect it’ll lead to many more opportunities, and I’m curious to see what path he takes.”
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