Athens, Ga. – Two University of Georgia Honors students have been selected to receive 2010-11 National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarships for language study abroad.
The UGA recipients are: Winn Davis, a rising senior from Savannah, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international affairs, and Logan Krusac, a rising junior from Smyrna, who is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in political science and Mandarin Chinese. Davis is a graduate of Savannah Arts Academy and Krusac is a graduate of Campbell High School.
“I am very proud of Winn and Logan, who are the fifth and sixth Honors students to be awarded the Boren Scholarship in the past two years,” said David S. Williams, director of UGA’s Honors Program. “I know that each of them will take full advantage of the extensive immersion experience that this scholarship offers in order to enhance their linguistic and cultural fluency.”
The NSEP Boren Scholarship was established in 1991 as part of the National Security Act and named after the legislative author David L. Boren, who currently serves as president of the University of Oklahoma.The scholarship promotes linguistic proficiency and cultural immersion in less commonly taught foreign languages deemed important to U.S. national security.The scholarship provides recipients $10,000 for one semester or $20,000 for one academic year.
In exchange, participants work for one year in U.S. government positions with national security responsibilities. Priority agencies include departments of state, homeland security, or defense, or the intelligence community.
Winn will be studying Kazakh in Almaty, Kazakhstan for one year.He also will be sharpening his Russian language skills, the focus of his original Boren study program in the Kyrgyz Republic that he had to forgo because of the country’s recent political uncertainty.He said that his participation in the Boren program is the first step toward his career aspirations of becoming a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
“Receiving the Boren Scholarship has been an important validation for my years of work in post-Soviet studies,” he said.”Having intimate knowledge of U.S. and world history, culture and politics is essential to successfully completing your job.The NSEP service requirement seems only a natural progression to my career goals.”
While at UGA, Winn has been involved with culture and language-focused student groups such as the Eastern European Student Union he founded and the Russian Student Association.He also volunteers for UGA’s International Student Life Office, assisting international students with their transition to American university life.
Winn is pursuing a minor in Russian language and literature and a certificate in global studies through UGA’s Center for the Study of Global Issues and would like to do graduate work in Eurasian studies.
Krusac, who is already spending the summer in China as a recipient of the State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship, will continue his Mandarin studies this fall at Yunnan Normal University in Kunming.He then will study at Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin during the spring semester. Krusac also will be conducting policy-based research on China’s emerging environmental movement to address critical global issues.
“The Boren Scholarship will provide me with an incredible opportunity to spend a year in China as I continue my Mandarin studies,” said Krusac.”I am honored to have this opportunity and I look forward to developing the skills necessary for a career in which I can work to improve the relationship between the United States and China.”
Krusac came to UGA as a Foundation Fellow, the university’s premier undergraduate scholarship.On campus, Krusac has been involved with international student life issues as a Student Government Association senator. He also studied abroad in Spain last summer. In preparation for his policy research in China, he attended an international human rights and climate change conference in February.
Krusac is also pursuing a minor in Spanish as well as a certificate in global studies and would like to pursue a law career, focusing on immigration issues.
For more information on the NSEP Boren Scholarships, see http://www.borenawards.org.
For more information on UGA’s Honors Program, see http://www.uga.edu/honors.
