Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

John Richardson, a 2020 graduate of the Westminster School at Oak Mountain and a May 2024 graduate of The University of Alabama, was one of only four in the nation to recently be named an Eisenhower Global Scholar.

Richardson, a Birmingham native, was the first UA graduate to receive the award which will allow him to continue his studies at the University of Oxford at the Blavatnik School of Government.

“It truly was an answer to prayers,” Richardson said. “In the fall, I had actually been selected as a Rhodes Scholar Finalist, but was not selected. Through advice from professors I applied to Oxford on the last two days the application was open, and the Lord provided a path to make it possible after my acceptance.”

Richardson is a former UA Honors College student and studied history, with a concentration on law and legal studies, and political science with a dual minor in social innovation and leadership and sales. He was involved with the Dr. Robert E. Witt Fellows Program, Blackburn Institute, College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors and Student Government Association. Additionally, he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and selected as a Rhodes Scholar finalist his senior year.

“Joining the community of global leaders contained within the Eisenhower Fellowship is a great opportunity, and I look forward to stewarding those relationships and lessons to produce positive solutions to problems facing the world,” Richardson said in an official release by UA. “With this spirit in mind, I hope my time at Oxford will be focused more on the people than the place.”

According to its official website, the Blavatnik School of Government is committed to  improving the quality of government and policy making worldwide through teaching current and future leaders, offering research with impact and engagement with governments and practitioners. The school was founded in 2010 and accepts around 120 master’s of public policy students a year.

Through the Eisenhower Fellowship, Richardson will research nuanced policy solutions and constituent relations with a desire to use that perspective to help solve issues facing Alabama. Richardson  plans to attend law school in the U.S. after earning his master’s degree at Oxford.

“This scholarship would not have been possible without the incredible generosity and support of my community in Tuscaloosa,” Richardson said. “I could not have achieved anything without the great effort of many people throughout my four years on campus. A sincere thank you to each of you.”

The Eisenhower Fellowship was founded in 1953 as a gift to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The program identifies outstanding ascendant leaders who share Eisenhower’s belief in the powerful possibilities of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. The fellowship’s work transcends national boundaries, linking international leaders with their counterparts in the United States to enhance international understanding and provide rich opportunities for collaboration within the Eisenhower Fellows global network.

The Eisenhower Global Scholars Program sends four American university graduates abroad annually for an academic year of postgraduate studies at two prestigious European universities, the University of Oxford and IE University in Madrid, Spain.

The UA Office of External Scholarships and Fellowships assists students in the pursuit of national and international awards. Students interested in applying for awards that require an institutional endorsement can learn more on the External Scholarships and Fellowships website.