Robinson Grad Awarded Prestigious Fellowship

A graduate is postponing college to participate in a fellowship in which she will receive $100,000 over a two-year period to help the developing world.

“I was excited by this unique opportunity; that I would be able to do a lot of things I wouldn’t be able to do in college,” said Noor Siddiqui, an 18-year-old from Clifton.

The Thiel Fellowship was founded in 2010 by venture capitalist Peter Thiel, whose notable investments include PayPal and Facebook.  The fellowship awards 20 people under 20 years old cash grants of $100,000 to further their innovative scientific and technical ideas.  "With $100,000 and 2 years free to pursue their dreams, Thiel Fellows are changing the world one entrepreneurial venture at a time," reads the website.

Siddiqui told The Connection she declined offers from both Brown University and the University of Chicago to pursue her dream: To change the way the world responds to persistent poverty. "I don’t think I’m giving up anything by not going to college, I'm just on a different track," she said.

 “I traveled to Pakistan a few years ago, and seeing the poverty and hunger attracted me to this project specifically,”  Siddiqui told Patch. “I'll be looking at ways to solve that problem, and I’ll be doing a lot of talking to people involved in that arena,” she said.

Much of the grant money will go toward meeting with people who know about developing world issues, attending conferences and possibly funding a project.

Though her parents were apprehensive about her postponing college for a few years, they were ultimately supportive of the fellowship, Siddiqui said.

“I’m excited about the unbridled freedom,” Siddiqui said. “Being so young, I have an incredible array of opportunities in front of me, she said.  "I’m excited about learning a lot and learning fast.”

Applications for the 2013 class of Thiel Fellows are due by 11:59 p.m., December 31, 2012. Applicants must have been born after December 31, 1992, to qualify.