May 2, 2016
Purdue students, alumni to travel the world with Fulbright grants
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Select Purdue University students and alumni have been offered a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant for the 2016-17 academic year.
"We're proud to have eight Boilermakers offered awards that will take them to places from Tanzania to Peru or Indonesia," said Rhonda Phillips, dean of the Honors College, home to Purdue's National and International Scholarships Office.
In country, the Fulbright grant recipients will conduct research, study, or teach English as a second language:
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Ayat Abourashed |
* Ayat Abourashed is a senior from Frankfort, Illinois, studying pharmaceutical sciences. She will travel to Indonesia for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program. Her goal as a future physician is to serve patients from various cultures with an understanding of how patients' religious, social, and economic backgrounds affect the care they need.
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Jessica Eisma |
* Jessica Eisma is a graduate student from Lansing, Michigan, studying civil engineering. She will travel to Tanzania with a Fulbright Study/Research Grant for research on the ecological impact of an ancient water capture and storage technology that is recognized as efficient for Tanzanian ecosystems: sand dams.
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Jonathan Freeman |
* Jonathan Freeman is a graduate student from Memphis, Tennessee, in American Studies. He will examine the role of African-American musical recording artists in the anti-apartheid movement of South Africa with a Fulbright Study/Research Grant
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Jackson Havens |
* Jackson Havens is a 2015 graduate with a bachelor's degree in linguistics, Spanish and sociology from Westfield, Indiana. He will travel to Spain for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program.
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Megan O'Connell |
* Megan O'Connell is a senior from Carmel, Indiana, who will graduate in May with a degree in speech language and hearing sciences as well as in Spanish and linguistics. She has honed her teaching skills by volunteering in the community as an ESL teaching assistant at the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy and will travel to Peru for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program.
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Grant Owen |
* Grant Owen is a senior from West Lafayette, in the College of Liberal Arts, who is studying anthropology. He will travel to Indonesia for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program. As a future anthropologist, he plans to work in the tourism and development industry in Southeast Asia, advocating for marginalized people in communities that depend on ethnic tourism.
* Benjamin Rich is an alumnus who received his bachelor's degree in English and comparative literature in 2010. Since graduating, he has continued to study economics and Korean language and will pursue a master's degree in international studies at Seoul National University on a Fulbright Study/Research Grant.
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Gideon Singer |
* Gideon Singer is a graduate student from Reisterstown, Maryland, who is studying anthropology. In Australia on a Fulbright Study/Research Grant, Singer will partnering with the Appleton Institute at CQUniversity to integrate ethnography and GIS to investigate local responses to the rapid increase of e-waste and design community-based resources to unmake that waste.
As they apply for a Fulbright, students and alumni undergo a rigorous application process through the National and International Scholarships Office. NISO develops student-scholars' skills as they prepare their applications, which are evaluated by a team of faculty members before being sent forward to the Fulbright Program.
The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments, host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
News Service contact: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu
Source: Rosanne Altstatt, Dean's Fellow, National and International Scholarships Office, altstatt@purdue.edu
