Connecticut College graduate featured in global scholars publication

Growing up in Angola, Ricardo Kabila ’13 hoped someday he could help his country achieve the great promise he always saw.

Now, after graduating from Conn and completing his Master’s degree in geological sciences and geophysics, he has had the opportunity to help realize Angola’s potential by working with ExxonMobil’s research team to develop the country’s natural energy resources.

This month, Kabila was recognized by the Davis United World College Scholars Program and profiled in their annual report for the important work he has done in Angola and around the world.

“When I was growing up I was often faced with the sad reality that, on the one hand, Angola had a potentially resourceful earth, but on the other hand, it had a lack of technical and competitive expertise to effectively explore the resources in the most beneficial way for Angolans,” Kabila said.

The Davis program provides financial support for talented students from all over the world to come study at a college or university in the U.S. and contribute to global and cultural learning on American campuses. Kabila’s participation in the program brought him to Connecticut College initially.

During his senior year at Conn, Kabila, who double-majored in physics and mathematics and minored in economics, was awarded a graduate school scholarship through the ExxonMobil Angolan Scholars Program. The grant covers full tuition, housing, living and health care to students pursuing advanced degrees in petroleum geophysics or petroleum engineering.

To date, the Davis program has provided scholarships for more than 9,000 scholars from 164 countries, all of whom have attended partner colleges and universities throughout the U.S.