

The Mastercard Scholars Program

Duke University has been honored to work with the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Program for the past ten years to provide over $13.5 million dollars in funding to support dozens of outstanding young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa. While the class of 2022 will be the final MasterCard Scholarship cohort at Duke, the legacy of this program will live on through the talents of alumni who reside all over the world.
Scholar Spotlight on: Muhammed Bah
Muhammed joins the Duke community from The Gambia. Muhammed has been involved with different student organizations over the past four years:
"I participated in several activities on campus, some of which include representing Duke at the Qatar Foundation Debate at Harvard University in Fall 2019, mentoring freshman and sophomores who are considering the global health major, and being a student ambassador where I guided potential freshmen. Furthermore, I work with the Center for Muslim Life in the research and documentation of the history of Islam and Muslims at Duke and curating a timeline for the events."
Dr. Anne-Maria Makhulu, MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Faculty Director
Dr. Makhulu is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and African & African American Studies. Her research in South Africa focuses on social movements, historical transformation, race and class mobility, and rural-urban migration. She teaches courses on activism, urbanization, climate change, as well as social theory. Dr. Makhulu has been the Faculty Director of the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship program at Duke since 2016, and is proud to work with the final MCF Scholars cohort as they plan for life after graduation in May of 2022.