The University of Guelph has created a scholarship in honour of two students who were killed when a Ukrainian International Airlines flight was shot down in Iran two years ago.
More than 100 of the 176 people killed in the Jan. 8, 2020 crash had ties to Canada.
Ghanimat Azhdari and Milad Ghasemi Ariani, who were both Iranian nationals, were returning to continue their studies after the winter break when the crash occurred.
The university established two $5,000 scholarships in their names, offered to qualified graduate students over the next five years. People can donate to the scholarships, and all donations will be matched by the U of G.
"The Ghanimat Azhdari Memorial Scholarship is open to an Indigenous graduate student. The Milad Ghasemi Ariani Memorial Scholarship supports an international graduate student entering any graduate program, with preference given to PhD or M.Sc. students in the Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies," a news release from the university said.
The Ghanimat Azhdari Memorial Scholarship was given to Amirhossein Alaghmandfard, a PhD candidate in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.
Akierah Binns received the Milad Ghasemi Ariani Scholarship. Binns is a first-year PhD management student in organizational behaviour in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics.
"As a community, we continue to seek ways to commemorate the indelible impact Ghanimat and Milad made on U of G and on the world – as individuals, as loved ones and friends, and as promising, young scholars,” said U of G president Charlotte Yates in the release. “I am delighted to congratulate Amirhossein and Akierah on being selected as the inaugural recipients of these memorial scholarships. Their dedication to graduate studies in their respective fields and to academic excellence will help U of G honour the legacies of Ghanimat and Milad.”
The provincial government also created scholarships to honour scholars who were killed in the crash. The scholarship was renewed on Friday, and will hand out $10,000 to 57 students, one in memory of each victim.
