San Marino High Graduate Receives $33,400 Rotary Scholarship for Graduate Study in London

Ethan B. Wang, a 2020 graduate of San Marino High School, has been awarded a $33,400 Global Grant Scholarship from Rotary International to pursue a Master of Science in Population Health at the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London, Rotary announced this week.

Wang graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2023 as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, after only seven semesters, with a double major in public health studies and natural sciences with a focus on biology. He plans to study ways to evaluate, develop and lead research-based health initiatives at the intersection of health and technology from a perspective in the United Kingdom, according to William Payne, the public image chair for the Rotary Club of San Marino, which sponsored Wang’s application.

The San Marino Rotary Club has now had 31 of its nominees accepted by Rotary International for the scholarship, previously known as the Ambassadorial Scholarship.

Applicants for the Global Grant Scholarship are interviewed at the Club and District level, in person if possible, but by Zoom or Skype if necessary. The scholarship aligns with one or more of Rotary’s Areas of Focus, which include peace and conflict prevention and resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, and the environment.

“Each year, the San Marino Rotary Club seeks to identify a global grant applicant, one who desires to further his or her education abroad, for a Master’s or Doctorate degree, and whose coursework and extracurricular activities align with one or more of Rotary’s Areas of Focus,” Payne said in a statement.

At Johns Hopkins, Wang was involved with several organizations, including TechUp USA, Baltimore CONNECT, the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, and Code in the Schools.

During high school, Wang was a cabinet member of the Rotary Interact Club and volunteered with the organization in San Marino’s Fourth of July parade. As a graduating senior, he was awarded the Barth Rotary Scholarship of $2,500.

Wang’s interests align with Rotary’s disease prevention and treatment area of focus. His host will be the Kingsbury & Kenton Rotary Club in London. He is expected to speak at various club meetings, attend their district conference and serve as a resource to Rotarians and their programs while abroad, according to the statement.

Upon his return, Wang is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Rotary’s annual Foundation Luncheon at the Huntington in March, where he will recount his academic and social activities in London.

Wang learned about the Rotary scholarship through an article in The Tribune, a local newspaper, about Mark Liang, a previous Global Grant scholar and fellow San Marino High alumnus who received his master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, according to the statement.