University of North Carolina Athletics
Dibble Selected As Phillips Ambassador
May 8, 2014 | Football, Academics, Student-Athlete Development
Ian Dibble, a rising junior on the UNC football team who is majoring in business administration, has been selected as a Phillips Ambassador and will spend part of the summer of 2014 studying in Hong Kong.
Dibble is one of 20 undergraduates - 19 from UNC and one from Duke - headed to Asia for study-abroad programs this summer and fall. Ten scholarship recipients - including Dibble - will study in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Phillips Ambassadors also will study in India, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
As part of the five-week program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dibble will take two courses (International Finance and Chinese Culture and Society) and will live in campus housing with other students from around the world as part of an international summer school program.
"This is a great University with an abundance of opportunities to help students grow as individuals and professionals, and the Kenan-Flagler Business School offers students even more opportunities including study abroad," Dibble said. "After talking with advisors, family members, and especially my roommates and teammates, Nick Weiler and Alex Bales, I have come to the realization that studying abroad is a once and a lifetime opportunity that will not only set me apart from other candidates in the job market but give me a global perspective completely different from my own."
The Phillips Ambassadors is a program of UNC's Carolina Asia Center, in association with the study abroad office. Phillips Ambassadors are selected twice a year and receive $5,000 each. Selection is based on strong communication skills, intellectual curiosity and engagement, academic achievement, evidence of generous service to the campus and wider community, and a previous record of leadership.
Twenty-five percent of the scholarships are reserved for qualified undergraduate business majors and minors at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Up to two scholarships each year are available to qualified Duke undergraduates.
In making the decision to participate in the program, Dibble, a defensive lineman, kept his football responsibilities in mind. All sports have off-season training programs and for those that compete in the fall, the summer is a particularly crucial time. "Football summer workouts are essential to building camaraderie within the team and getting stronger as a football player," Dibble acknowledged, "but I have spoken with the strength and conditioning staff to set up a workout plan for the time that I am gone. When I return I will jump right into the normal football schedule and school year."
The Phillips Ambassadors Program is made possible through a generous gift from Carolina alumnus Earl N. "Phil" Phillips, an entrepreneur and former United States ambassador, and his family.
"Our goal with this gift has been to encourage more students to spend their study abroad experiences focused on Asia - an increasingly vital region of the future," said Phillips, who splits his time between High Point, N.C., and Chapel Hill.
The first group of Phillips Ambassadors studied abroad in Asia in the summer of 2007. By the end of 2014, more than 200 Carolina undergraduates will have studied in Asia as Phillips Ambassadors.
"This will be my first international experience but my father and uncle have both lived in Hong Kong for extended periods of time," Dibble said. "The classes are on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so I plan to travel to some countries in the area. On my top of the list of countries to travel to will be mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia. I am also trying to coordinate meetings with some business associates who are alumni of UNC-CH that live in Hong Kong to discuss their careers and network.
"For my career plans, I want to work as an investment banker directly after college and then eventually work my way into a private equity firm. Long term I hope I am successful enough to be able to give back to the Phillips Ambassador Program and sponsor more student-athletes to study abroad during their time at UNC-CH."
A distinguishing feature of the Phillips Ambassador program is an emphasis on what is called a "Give Back," or sharing of one's study abroad experience in Asia with the Carolina community and a student's hometown. In accepting the scholarship, students agree to fulfill a Give Back related to their study abroad experience. Give Backs range from published articles, classroom presentations at a student's hometown high school, photo and art exhibits, musical performances, to group projects focused on Asia.
