Thirteen Vanderbilt students and graduates have been awarded scholarships through Fulbright-sponsored programs for research, teaching and study abroad in 2011-12.
“We’re very excited this year about the number of students receiving Fulbright awards, the variety of majors they represent and the range of countries to which they will be going,” said Todd Peterson, faculty director of the Office of Honor Scholarships at Vanderbilt University.
The Fulbright-U.S. Student program was established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress to “enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”
It is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
In addition to the U.S.-Student program, students may apply for international study and teaching opportunities through Fulbright offices abroad. The Austrian Fulbright Commission selects students nationwide for teaching positions in Austria, while the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission offers a very select group of first and second year U.S. undergraduates the opportunity for summer study in one of three U.K. Universities.
Vanderbilt students/graduates selected by the Fulbright-U.S. student program:
Jeremy John DeWaal, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate, Fulbright Research Grant to study German history, as well as a DAAD Research Grant. This is his second Fulbright Scholarship.
Erin Stone, Ph.D. candidate in Latin American History, Fulbright Research Grant to Spain to study indigenous/Spanish interactions in the Colonial Circum-Caribbean in the 16th century.
Cynthia Villamizar, Communications and Spanish, 2011 was awarded a Fulbright Binational Business Grant to study Business in Mexico. Cynthia has worked for Google and was one of a very select group of students to participate in the Harvard Business School summer management program. She was also a Chancellor’s Scholar at Vanderbilt.
Alice Bator, Human and Organizational Development and Psychology, 2011 – Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to South Africa. Bator has worked to create long-lasting solutions to women’s education in Uganda as a part of the Kasiisi Project, a nonprofit organization that funds school construction and school-related projects in western Uganda.
Jessie Bullock, Human and Organizational Development and Spanish, 2011 – Fulbright ETA to Guatemala as well as a NSEP/Boren Fellowship to conduct research on food security in Brazil. Bullock was an Ingram Scholar while at Vanderbilt. She completed an internship with the U.S. State Department last summer and served as a federal student ambassador for the 2010-11 academic year, helping fellow students find federal jobs.
Ellington Griffin, International Cultural Studies, 2011 – Fulbright ETA to Brazil. Ellington served as a photojournalist for the student media while at Vanderbilt and competed in the fourth Business Language Competition, a nationwide competition in which undergraduate students can apply their foreign language skills to the analysis of a business case created by the Harvard Business School.
Megan Grisolano, Economics and Spanish, December, 2010 – Fulbright ETA to Spain. While at Vanderbilt. Grisolano was active in the Vanderbilt student-run TV station, VTV, as co-host of several shows.
L. Wern Ong, Biomedical Engineering, 2011 – Fulbright ETA to Malaysia. His research includes studying health literacy and policy for young adults, and he hopes to go to medical school.
Benjamin Scott, Political Science, 2011 – Fulbright ETA to Vietnam. Scott, who speaks Vietnamese, studied abroad in Vietnam as an undergraduate and also worked as an intern for former Vice President Al Gore.
Erin Stauber, Master’s of Education, 2011 – Fulbright ETA to South Korea. Stauber was an elementary school teacher in Mississippi for three years in the Teach for America program prior to coming to Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt graduates selected for teaching assistantships by the Austrian Fulbright Commission are Paul Lehman, German and Anthropology, 2011 and Erol Koymen, Music and Philosophy, 2011.
Vanderbilt freshman selected for summer study at Newcastle University by U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission: Arianna Shaffer.
Contact: Lyn Fulton, Office of Honor Scholarships at Vanderbilt