Awards
Teaching & Students

Senior Ibrahim Bharmal Wins Sterling Award for Service to Stanford

Congratulations to Human Rights Minor Ibrahim Bharmal ’18 on receiving the Stanford Alumni Association’s 2018 J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for outstanding service to Stanford! This a well-deserved award for Bharmal, who has had a tremendous impact both on campus and with the communities he has served locally and overseas.

The Handa Center is honored to be part of Bharmal’s journey at Stanford. In Summer 2016 he was a Handa Center Human Rights Fellow and interned with A Drop in the Ocean in Lesvos, Greece. Reflecting on his intense work with refugees, Bharmal stated, “I came in wanting to do my part and offer as much help as I could. I didn’t realize how much I myself would be helped.” This sentiment is indicative of his compassion and humility in service to others. 

The Stanford Alumni Association’s announcement in Stanford News is below and can be accessed online here.

IBRAHIM BHARMAL, ’18 has received the Stanford Alumni Association’s 2018 J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for outstanding service to Stanford.

Bharmal, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and international relations, with a minor in human rights, has been actively involved in campus life. He was a frosh council president and served as class president his sophomore, junior and senior years. He was also a peer advisor, speaker at FACES, research assistant and tour guide.

He has also worked with the American Middle Eastern Network for Dialogue at Stanford, including serving as global engagement chair. He has been active within Markaz, the Muslim Student Resource Center and has been a voice of honesty and compassion around issues within the Muslim community. Off campus, he tutored at Ravenswood Reads in East Palo Alto, volunteered in refugee shelters in Berlin and Greece and worked for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

One of his nominators wrote, “There is a common thread to Ibrahim’s leadership. Ibrahim regularly brings his whole self to his life and work whether in the classroom, community service or leading his class. It is an integrated, thoughtful and humble self, and has continued on throughout his Stanford tenure. Ibrahim’s involvements cross multiple student communities. Serving as a class leader, he worked tirelessly to create a strong sense of affinity for his graduating class. As a young scholar and supporter of social justice, Ibrahim also has a strong interest in Muslim affairs and refugee studies.”

The Alumni Association presents the Sterling Award annually to a graduating senior whose undergraduate activities have made an impact on campus and demonstrates the strong potential for continued service to the university and the alumni community.

The award is named for the late J.E. Wallace Sterling, who served as Stanford’s president from 1949 to 1968.