2004-2005 Student Award Winners
From the coffee fields of Costa Rica to a chemistry lab in Ireland, 35 AU students who’ve received national scholarships are set to embark on the academic journey of a lifetime.
According to Paula Warrick, director of the Office of Merit Awards, AU students fared particularly well this year. By semester’s end, ten students received the prestigious Fulbright Grant, which will allow them to undertake a year of study in a country of their choice. Kristy Stephenson declined to accept another award. Thirteen students—more than any other university—were awarded the NSEP/David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship, which will also allow them to travel abroad, focusing on less commonly taught languages and cultures.
Forrest Dunbar ’06 |
Also, three of the four AU students nominated for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship were recognized this year. Junior Forrest Dunbar won the $30,000 scholarship, while Jacqueline Ingber and Lacey Rosenbaum were named national finalists. “To have three of the four students recognized is just extraordinary,” said Warrick.
“The strong showing among students is a testament to their talent and hard work. But it also speaks to the caliber of faculty at AU,” Warrick continued. “No one wins these awards without a faculty member helping them along the way.”
Study Abroad Grants
The following students received Fulbright Grants, which promote multicultural understanding between United States citizens and people of other nations.
Sylvia Johnson, MA candidate, SOC, will spend a year in Salvador, Brazil, developing an arts education program for girls from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Johnson, a film and video major who grew up in Latin America, will create a documentary film about her experiences in Brazil.
Alexandria Katis, MFA candidate, SOC, is a film and electronic media major who will study the disappearing tradition of puppet animation in Czech cinema.
Brian Kim, senior, SOC/CAS, will teach English to South Korean school children. Although the journalism and international studies major is already proficient in Korean, Kim hopes to refine his vocabulary with respect to politics and media studies.
Colleen Kohashi, senior, SIS, will serve as an English language teaching assistant in Korea. Kohashi, an international studies and Japanese language major, will focus on Korean defense and foreign policy in preparation for a career in U.S.-Japanese-Korean trilateral relations.
Honors student Janina Beck, Kogod, and Fulbright scholar Carey Myers, CAS |
Carey Myers, senior, CAS, will spend a year in the laboratory of Professor Timothy Smythe, senior lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Myers, a biochemistry major who received this year’s university-wide award for outstanding undergraduate scholarship, will focus on the development of novel penicillin derivatives.
Michelle Salomon, senior, SPA, will spend a year in Spain investigating the reintroduction of the jury system in 1995. Salomon, a justice, law and society major, will interview jurors, examine archival materials, and intern with Magistrate Luciano Varela Castro, one of the key authors of the 1995 law.
Anna Welch, third-year JD candidate, WCL, will analyze Peru’s efforts to privatize and decentralize its water systems management. Welch, a senior staff member of the AU Law Review, will evaluate ongoing efforts to balance efficiency goals with human rights needs.
Monica Wells, PhD candidate, SIS, will examine the growth of the home schooling movement in North America and its subsequent “fracturing” along racial lines. Wells, an international affairs major, will compare black home schooling practices in Toronto, Canada, and Washington, D.C.
Erika Whobrey, senior, SIS, will undertake structured graduate study at the Heidelberg Institute for Political Science at the Karl-Ruprechts University in Heidelberg, Germany. An international studies major, Whobrey’s work will focus on the evolution of the transatlantic relationship since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The following undergraduates received NSEP/David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarships, which encourage U.S. citizens to study less commonly taught languages and cultures.
Stacy Aldinger, sophomore, SIS/SPA, will spend the summer and fall in Beijing as part of the World Capitals program. An international studies and political science major, Aldinger will take courses in Mandarin and political science.
Robert Bailey, sophomore, SIS, will spend a year in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. An international studies major, Bailery will study intensive elementary Vietnamese and the history of Indochina.
Arthur Pang, sophomore, SIS, is a student of international relations and business. Pang will spend the fall semester in the World Capitals program in Beijing, where he will take advanced Mandarin and study Chinese political reforms.
Matthew Parin, sophomore, SIS, will spend a year at American University in Cairo. An international studies major, Parin will study intensive Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, his major area of interest.
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