Record 8 students awarded Fulbright scholarships
Eight UMass Amherst students have been awarded Fulbright scholarships for international studies for the 2009-10 academic year.
The eight awards are a record for the campus, according to Susan K. Whitbourne, professor of Psychology and director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement. The recipients include four graduate students and four undergraduates who completed their degrees during the past year.
“The strong showing by our students is a testament to their outstanding scholastic ability and their determination to excel during the scholarship selection process,” said Whitbourne. “The faculty and staff who worked with the students are also to be commended for their unflagging support.”
The Fulbright scholarship recipients are:
• Nicholas Balascio, a Ph.D. student in Geosciences from Brattleboro, Vt., will travel to Norway to pursue a project titled “Using Lakes of the Lofoten Islands to Reconstruct the Climate History of Northern Norway.”
• Russell Boutelle, a English major from Gardner, has been awarded an English teaching assistantship in Argentina.
• Caitlyn Burns, a History major from Groveland, has been awarded an English teaching assistantship in South Korea.
• Amalia Etedgee, a Music major from Worcester, is going to Israel to study “Coexistence through Music.”
• Devin Fitzgerald, a master’s degree student in Chinese, will research “The Manchu Garrison Community in Xi’an during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in China. He is from Lebanon, N.H.
• Niall Stephens, a Ph.D. student in Communication, will travel to Chile. His project is titled “Sharing the Planet, Sharing Meaning.” He is from Boston.
• Anissa Talantikite, of Salem, a Political Science major, will focus on women’s studies and economic development in Morocco.
• Evan Torner, a graduate student in German, will pursue studies in Germany. He is from Iowa City, Iowa.
In addition to the eight Fulbright recipients, undergraduate Ashley Sherry, Spanish major from Amherst, was chosen as an alternate for public policy and administration studies in Mexico, and Renu Singh, an undergraduate Microbiology and Political Science major from North Dartmouth, was awarded a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship for studies in Germany.
The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 111,000 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and 183,000 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered by the Institute of International Education.
September 15, 2009.
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