Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia is 25th among research universities for the production of Fulbright Student Scholars in the 2012-2013 academic year, according to the latest ranking from the government’s flagship international exchange program.
Sixteen University of Georgia students were offered international travel-study grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2012-2013 academic year. Thirteen of these accepted the scholarships. The student Fulbright competition is administered at UGA through Maria de Rocher, coordinator of Honors programming.
“I am very pleased that Maria and the Honors Program can serve the whole campus with regard to the U.S. Fulbright Student Program, supporting both Honors and non-Honors undergraduates, as well as graduate students,” said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of the Honors Program. “The across-the-board success of UGA students in the Fulbright Program in recent years reflects not only their impressive qualities but also the wonderful tutelage and guidance they receive from their faculty mentors. UGA students can truly compete with the very best students anywhere.”
Recipients of the U.S. Student Full Grants, which cover research, study and creative projects, include two students who earned undergraduate degrees: fall 2011 graduate Andrew Arnold of LaGrange and spring 2012 graduate David Zweig of Fayetteville, Ark. Four current doctoral students also received Full Grants: Rebeca de Jesús-Crespo of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Genevieve Holdridge of Mahopac, N.Y.; Oksana Lutsyshyna of Tampa, Fla.; and Ann MacFadyen of Philadelphia, Pa. One additional UGA alumna who applied “at-large” was awarded a U.S. Student Full Grant-spring 2006 graduate Linnea West-but is not counted in the official institutional numbers.
The English Teaching Assistantship Grants, which place recipients in K-12 schools and universities to serve as language-learning assistants, were given to one master’s student, Louise Goodman of Tampa, Fla., and six students who recently earned undergraduate degrees at UGA: fall 2011 graduate Isha Ghodke of Norcross; spring 2011 graduate David Gutierrez of Cumming; spring 2012 graduate Alex Knoblock of Columbus, Ohio; spring 2012 graduate Morgann Lyles of Roswell; fall 2010 graduate Kimberly Moxley of Lawrenceville; and spring 2009 graduate Thomas Stewart of Bethlehem.
The Fulbright Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Participants are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential and have the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Grants are available for U.S. citizens to go abroad and for non-U.S. citizens with no U.S. permanent residence to come to the U.S. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars and 900 visiting scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals. The program operates in more than 155 countries.
Profiles of UGA’s student Fulbright recipients can be found on the Honors Program website at http://honors.uga.edu/news/s_p/fulbright-profiles.html.