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UGA named a top producer of Fulbright students

  • Stephanie Schupska

    • (L to R) Benjamin Barrett, Isabel Flanagan and Emma Traynor. (Submitted photos)

    The University of Georgia has been named a top producer of Fulbright U.S. students, a recognition given by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to the U.S. institutions that received the highest number of Fulbright offers.

    This marks the fifth time in 11 years that UGA has been named a top student producer of Fulbrighters.

    Eleven UGA students and alumni were offered Fulbright awards for 2022-2023, with 10 students able to accept. Seven are teaching English in countries including Kazakhstan, France, Bulgaria, Greece, Kenya, Brazil and Spain. Three are conducting research in Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Germany.

    “Our 11 student recipients come from a wide range of backgrounds and areas of study. The Fulbright grants are a testament to their exceptional talent, the strong mentorship of our faculty, and UGA’s longstanding commitment to international education,” said Meg Amstutz, dean of the Morehead Honors College. “Receiving recognition as a top producer of Fulbrighters places the University of Georgia among an elite group of higher education institutions.”

    Emma Traynor in Spain. (Submitted photo)

    The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to recent college graduates and graduate students. As the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, it is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and countries worldwide.

    Among UGA’s recipients, Emma Traynor is currently in Madrid, Spain, where she serves as an English teaching assistant at the high school IES Antonio Fraguas Forges. Traynor, who is from Savannah and was a Foundation Fellow, earned bachelor’s degrees in applied mathematics and international affairs and minored in Spanish.

    “I am so excited to use the education I received at UGA to assist students in learning English and to facilitate the Global Classrooms program, a global education program that includes participation in Model UN competitions and teaches public speaking, research and writing skills in English,” Traynor said.

    Ben Barrett in France. (Submitted photo)

    Ben Barrett, a 2022 Honors graduate from Norcross, is an English teaching assistant at a public high school in Marseille, France. Three years ago, pandemic lockdowns sent Barrett home early from a study abroad trip to Lyon, France. After earning bachelor’s degrees in history and philosophy and minoring in French, Barrett returned to France. When he completes his Fulbright year, he will begin a doctoral program at Johns Hopkins University and study the French Revolution and the Terror.

    Isabel Flanagan is using her Fulbright year to trade one Athens for another. A 2021 graduate from Augusta who earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational theory and practice, she traveled from the birthplace of public higher education in America to the birthplace of democracy in Greece. Now in Greece at Athens College, she uses a student-centered teaching philosophy that incorporates ideals from democratic education and restorative justice practices.

    Isabel Flanagan at UGA. (Submitted photo)

    The Morehead Honors College offers assistance to all UGA students and recent graduates interested in participating in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

    The seven UGA students and recent alumni who received Fulbright offers for 2022-2023 as English teaching assistants are listed below by name, major and country.

    Four UGA students and recent alumni received Fulbright offers for 2022-2023 to do research. They are listed below by name, major and country.

    The Fulbright Program was established over 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 participants from all backgrounds and fields from the U.S. and over 160 other countries have participated in the Fulbright Program.

    More information about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is available at https://us.fulbrightonline.org/. For more information, contact Maria de Rocher, campus Fulbright U.S. Student Program adviser and assistant dean and director of programming for the Morehead Honors College, at derocher@uga.edu.

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