Clarksville, Ark. -- Each year the faculty members of the University of the Ozarks elect one student to receive the Hurie Award, given to the outstanding member of the senior class. This award is named for Wiley Lin Hurie, who was president of this institution from 1923 to 1949. The Hurie Award is the highest honor an Ozarks student can receive. The faculty members choose a graduate who has been an exemplary scholar, a campus leader, and a person of outstanding character. The Hurie Award recipient for 2007 is Wambugu Gachungi from Nairobi, Kenya, a Religion/Philosophy major.
Wambugu has excelled both in and out of the classroom since transferring to Ozarks three years ago from Arlington Baptist College in Texas. The recipient of the prestigious Dr. Arnold and Luella Langenberg Scholarship at Ozarks, Wambugu has served three years as the intern for the Munger Memorial Chapel. A graduate of the East Africa School of Theology, he also served as interim campus chaplain at Ozarks for two years, handling such duties as organizing and conducting weekly chapel services and giving spiritual counseling. Wambugu was one of the founders of the University’s Amnesty International chapter and lead weekly Bible studies with the Alpha & Omega organization. He was also named to the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
Wambugu will attend the Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla., in the fall with plans to pursue a career in the Presbyterian ministry. He and his wife, Rahab, have two children, a son named Spurgeon and a daughter named Vivien.
Topics: Academics