Texas State alumnus, Abdual Muhialdin, awarded Rangel Fellowship

Texas State University alumnus Abdual Muhialdin has been awarded a prestigious Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship from the U.S. Department of State.

The Rangel Program is administered by Howard University and seeks to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers as diplomats in the State Department's Foreign Service. Rangel Fellows receive up to $37,500 annually for a two year period for tuition, room and board for completion of two-year master’s degrees. Fellows who successfully complete the program and Foreign Service entry requirements will receive appointments as Foreign Service Officers.

"I applied to the Rangel Fellowship four times before receiving it," Muhialdin said. "I knew this fellowship was what I wanted, so I did my best to develop myself in a way in which I would be competitive enough to get an invite back to Washington D.C. to interview."

To further develop and make himself a more appealing candidate, Muhialdin joined a two-year leadership training program at H-E-B in August 2016 and followed that with an internship at the White House August-December 2017. Currently, he works at United Way as a loaned executive from H-E-B supporting the United Way mission to end poverty.

A graduate of Texas State's Center for International Studies, Muhialdin earned his bachelor's degree in international studies, with a focus on international business, in 2016. He plans to enter graduate school in August 2019 as a Rangel Fellow to study international affairs.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity and looking forward to serving our great nation while helping to build a better world," Muhialdin said. 

The Rangel Program selects outstanding Rangel Fellows annually in a competitive nationwide process and supports them through two years of graduate study, internships, mentoring and professional development activities. It seeks individuals interested in helping to shape a freer, more secure and prosperous world through formulating, representing and implementing U.S. foreign policy. The program encourages the application of members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, women, and those with financial need.