OXFORD, Miss. – During his three years as a student at the University of Mississippi, Gabriel Weiss of Ocean Springs has compiled an amazing academic record and impressive achievements as an ROTC cadet and campus leader. 
A member of the Croft Institute for International Studies and Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, Weiss is a senior international studies and Mandarin Chinese major in the College of Liberal Arts. He spent summers 2008 and 2009 in Qingdao, China, studying the Chinese language, and this semester, he is taking classes and interning at China’s headquarters of Mars Inc. in Shanghai.
“While Mars dominates the chocolate market in China, relatively few Chinese people regularly eat chocolate, as it is not part of their customary diet,” he said. “I am working with a team that is developing strategies aimed at increasing the number of chocolate consumers in China. This is called market penetration expansion.”
Weiss has a double minor in military science and leadership, and intelligence and security studies. He has been enrolled in UM’s ROTC program since his freshman year, serving in the Mississippi Army National Guard’s Simultaneous Membership Program. He is an officer candidate assigned to the 288th Sapper Company in Houston, Miss. Following graduation, he will be commissioned to serve at least four years as an active duty Army officer.
He expects to complete his two bachelor’s degrees in May. A member of Phi Kappa Phi, he has been listed on the Chancellor’s Honor Roll every semester. He received the 2009 Outstanding Chinese Language Award. In campus leadership, last year he served as director of external affairs for the Associated Student Body.
“Gabe Weiss is in a category all by himself,” said Kees Gispen, director of the Croft Institute. “His combination of drive, determination, talent, stamina and character is – in a word – unique. As his academic adviser and teacher, I continue to marvel at how he pushes himself and expands the limits of what I’d thought humanly possible. We are truly fortunate to have him as one of our students.”
This past summer, he was one of two cadets in his ROTC unit chosen to attend the four-week Cadet Troop Leadership Training at Ft. Riley, Kan. Attached to an active-duty unit, he shadowed officers on the job. He then flew to Ft. Lewis, Wash., for the monthlong Leadership Development and Assessment Course, a requirement for all Army cadets.
Before leaving the Ole Miss campus for Shanghai in August, he was awarded the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross, an ROTC award recognizing outstanding achievement. Out of some 20,000 cadets nationwide, fewer than 50 receive the award each year.
“Cadet Gabe Weiss is an outstanding cadet and fine young man,” said Lt. Col. John Abruscato, professor of military science. “He has excelled in all aspects of the Army ROTC program by attaining a stellar GPA in a demanding field of study, surpassing the required Army physical standards and volunteering to help peers and subordinates. He is the type of leader that the Army is looking for.”
Weiss said he decided attend Ole Miss because of “the combination of the Croft Institute, the Honors College, the Flagship Chinese Program, a highly ranked ROTC program, and the intelligence and security studies program.”
“Additionally, the Ole Miss campus is among the most beautiful in the country and the people here are, in my opinion, the best in the world,” he said.
Weiss said he feels prepared for his Army commitment, thanks to his ROTC training. After completing his commitment to the Army, Weiss is considering returning to college for a degree in business.
“I would like to end up in the corporate world,” he said, adding that his Mars internship will give him a taste of that.
A graduate of Ocean Springs High School, Weiss in the son of Cooper and Fabienne Norman of Ocean Springs.
Weiss arranged his Mars internship independently, with approval by the Croft Institute and UM’s Study Abroad Office. He will earn 15 hours of academic credit. Each year, the Study Abroad Office sends around 600 students abroad offering programs in more than 80 countries covering Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
For more information, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/