The annual Nom Habu scholarship, in honour of a former LUMS colleague and postgraduate student, has been awarded to Philomena Dzakpasu who joined the MSc Quantitative Finance programme this year.

Philomena said: “I was searching for scholarships I was eligible to apply for and I was informed via an email about the Nom Habu scholarship. I was exhilarated when I found out that I had not only been awarded the Nom Habu scholarship but that I will be receiving an additional departmental scholarship. When I first saw the email detailing the awards it was surreal, and I was astonished. I am truly appreciative of these awards not only because of what they represent, but also because it takes a great financial strain off my back and that of my family’s and will certainly help me to be entirely focused on my studies.

I am eager to acquire practical knowledge about financial markets and to learn the application of this knowledge to the solution and analysis of problems faced in the financial industry. I am also looking forward to acquiring programming skills as it is an invaluable skill to have in the current job market. I am excited about meeting people from diverse cultures, living in a multicultural environment and exploring not only the city of Lancaster but the U.K. as well. I am truly grateful to Lancaster University Management School for bestowing on me these scholarship awards.”

The Nom Habu scholarship is awarded to Ghanaian or Nigerian students with an offer to study MSc Quantitative Finance at LUMS. It was set up in memory of Nom Habu, who was employed as the Regional Officer for West Africa from May 2011 to August 2013, and went on to study MSc Quantitative Finance. Following his studies, he became the Student Recruitment Manager for Lancaster University Ghana. Sadly, he passed away after a short illness in December 2016, and the scholarship was launched as a lasting way of remembering Nom and his service to the university.

Congratulations to Philomena on this fantastic achievement, and we wish her all the best for her studies at LUMS.