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April 12, 2002

Special education student receives prestigious scholarship

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A doctoral student in special education at Purdue University has received the Quadrille Ball Scholarship, sponsored by the Institute of International Education and the Germanistic Society of America.

Oliver Wendt received a $2,000 stipend, along with an invitation to the Quadrille Ball at the New York Plaza Hotel. The scholarship is awarded to a German graduate student in the United States who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement and the promise of leadership in their field upon returning to Germany.

Wendt conducts research on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), a new interdisciplinary field. He hopes to improve the communication skills of autistic children who have little or no functional speech.

Wendt says he is pleased with his decision to pursue further studies at Purdue.

"I wanted to be involved in a highly research-oriented program that helps me to further develop my research skills and increase my scholarly productivity," Wendt says. "The doctoral program that my current adviser, Professor Lyle Lloyd has established, is of outstanding national and international prominence and has produced numerous scholars who evolved as leaders in the field after graduating from Purdue. That is what I found especially attractive."

Wendt joined the special education doctoral program in the summer of 2000. Prior to his studies at Purdue, he received a master's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a Fulbright exchange student. He also completed a graduate degree with honors at the University of Cologne-Germany.

CONTACT: Lyle Lloyd, (765) 494-7333; Oliver Wendt, (765) 743-3245, wendto@purdue.edu.

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu


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